A photo shared on Facebook purportedly shows a CBC News article reporting the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was aware 44% of pregnant women suffering miscarriages during their COVID-19 vaccine trial.

Verdict: False

This article is digitally fabricated. A CBC spokesperson denied the validity of the article.

Fact Check:

Pharmaceutical startup Moderna sued Pfizer and Germany-based BioNTech over allegations their joint COVID-19 vaccine had violated the start-up’s mRNA technology patents, according to The New York Times. A recent study of Pfizer’s antiviral Paxlovid drug was also found to have “little or no benefit” for younger adults with COVID-19, MarketWatch reported.

The Facebook photo appears to show an article from CBC News titled “FDA knew 44% of pregnant women in Pfizer trial had miscarriages.”

“The US Government was aware of the potential harm and promoted the vaccine anyways,” the article’s subhead reads. The same screenshot was also posted to Twitter, garnering over 1,000 retweets. 

The image is digitally fabricated. The article cannot be found on CBC’s website or any of its verified social media accounts. Likewise, Check Your Fact found no credible news reports to corroborate the claim made in the image. (RELATED: Did CBC News Publish This Story Defending The Media’s Credibility?)

“We can confirm that CBC did not publish this article,” a spokesperson for CBC told Check Your Fact in an email. “We are aware of a number of recently posted images of fake stories attributed to CBC News and are working with Social Media providers to flag and remove these false and inflammatory manipulated images.”

This is not the first time a fabricated screenshot of a CBC News article has spread online. Check Your Fact previously debunked an image allegedly featuring a CBC article that claimed Canadians’ trust in the media was at an “all-time high.”