Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released data that brought attention to a horrifying trend: the infant death rate in the U.S. increased by 3 percent in 2022.
The rise in infant mortality marked the first significant increase in about two decades. After the news broke, some people took to social media to spread anti-vaccine misinformation and attempt to fabricate a story that COVID-19 vaccines were to blame. It’s no secret that online pregnancy support groups are rife with vaccine misinformation, and the power of misinformation has real-life impacts. Pregnant women, who are at a higher risk for severe illness, have relatively low vaccination rates against COVID-19.