Thousands of premature births may have been prevented by Covid vaccines, a new study suggests.

Despite widespread misinformation about the vaccines causing fertility problems, researchers in California linked the shots to a 78 percent decrease in premature births among expectant mothers infected with the virus.

They analyzed data on millions of births recorded in the state between 2014 and 2022 and found a spike in premature births in 2020 – when the virus first spread in the US.

The study attributed this to Covid infections in pregnant women, which increase the risk of premature birth due to inflammation and stress due to infection.

But by 2022, the rate of premature births had returned to pre-pandemic levels – following the rollout of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.

The jabs are thought to have triggered the mother’s immune system to recognize and attack the virus early in an infection, reducing the risk of serious illness.

Expectant mothers infected with Covid had at least a 60 per cent higher risk of preterm birth – or the birth of a child before 37 weeks’ gestation – in the early stages of the pandemic compared to those who were not infected, research shows to suggest.

Expectant mothers are more vulnerable to serious infections because their immune systems are weaker during pregnancy.

Scientists suggest Covid also increased the risk due to the stress associated with the infection and the higher levels of inflammation it causes throughout the body.

Covid infections can also increase the risk of unusual blood clots or damage to blood vessels – which can affect blood flow through the placenta and the supply of nutrients to patients.

In cases where this happens, where it is reported in Covid patients during pregnancy, there is a greater risk of preterm birth.

About one in 10 children in the U.S. are born prematurely — or before 37 weeks’ gestation — studies show.

In many cases, young people experience no adverse effects. But those born prematurely are at greater risk of complications, including infections, asthma and developmental delays.

Researchers analyzed data from California because the state had been tracking whether expectant mothers had been infected with Covid since June 2020 on birth certificates.

Whenever possible, mothers were tested for the virus before being admitted to one of the state’s 400 hospitals or birth centers.

There are an average of 400,000 births per year in California, which is similar to many countries – and allows the results to be generalized worldwide.

The results showed that a mother’s risk of preterm birth increased by 78 percent in 2020 for those infected with Covid (or increased from 6.9 to 12.3 percent of all preterm births).

In 2021, the rate increase has shifted again by 4.1 percent due to the arrival of the heavier Delta variant.

But by 2022, the virus had fallen back to pre-pandemic levels, due to the large vaccine rollout, rising infections and the emergence of the milder Omicron variant.

In areas where vaccine uptake was higher, scientists found that premature births among Covid-infected mothers fell a year earlier than in areas with low vaccination rates.

California began rolling out the Covid vaccine on December 14, 2020, and also began distributing the shots to pregnant women in July 2021.

As of December 2022, 84 percent of California residents had received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Jenna Nobles, a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who led the study, said: ‘In zip codes with the highest vaccination rates, the excess risk of preterm birth declines much more quickly.

‘By summer 2021, having Covid during pregnancy had no effect on the risk of preterm birth in these communities.

‘In the postal codes with the lowest vaccination rate, this takes almost a year longer.

‘That underlines how protective Covid vaccines have been. By increasing immunity more quickly, early vaccination has likely prevented thousands of premature births in the US.”

Vaccines activated immunity against the virus by allowing the immune system to fight the infection and prevent serious illness.

But infections early in the pandemic also likely helped, scientists said, because they also taught younger women’s immune systems how to fight the virus.

Elon Musk on Thursday proudly tweeted a photo of himself meeting China’s president, Xi Jinping – as the embattled X owner struggles to deal with yet more concerns about antisemitism.

Musk on Wednesday agreed with an antisemitic post on his platform, and then attempted to backtrack – insisting he did not support the genocide of Jewish people.

In further bad news, it emerged that his platform had paid $3,000 in ad revenue shares to a virulent antisemite, Hitler fan and Holocaust denier.

On Wednesday night, Musk put aside the increasing scandal to meet Xi at a reception after the APEC summit, in San Francisco.

The billionaire businessman told a reporter for Xinhua, Chinese state media, that he was looking forward to seeing Xi.

‘I’m looking forward to meeting – we met once briefly. I look forward to meeting again,’ he said.

He said he was ‘very happy with our work in China,’ adding that he hoped ‘China and the United States can work together for regional prosperity of the world.’

Musk’s Tesla in 2018 became the first-ever foreign carmaker to be invited to set up a factory in China without having to answer to a Chinese partner, and now nearly 30 percent of all car sales in China are EVs, versus 7 percent in the United States.

Musk has made several trips to China – most recently in June – but it is not known when he met Xi. Bill Gates was granted a rare audience with Xi this summer, which analysts said likely rankled Musk, who is highly competitive with and critical of Gates.

Tesla China on Thursday said that Xi, in his meeting with Musk, ‘expressed support for Tesla’s development in China.’ 

The statement continued: ‘Musk expressed his gratitude and appreciated the rapid development of China’s new energy vehicle industry. 

‘This year marks Tesla’s tenth year of entering the Chinese market. The Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory, which was completed and put into production in 2019, has become Tesla’s important global production base and export center.’ 

The statement continued with a declaration that Tesla was ‘honored to participate in the rapid development of China’s new energy vehicle industry’.

It concluded: ‘We will continue to work hard in China and look forward to developing together with the industry in new energy vehicles, energy storage, artificial intelligence and other fields.’ 

After meeting Xi, Musk did not stay for the $40,000-a-head dinner at the Hyatt Regency, hosted by Joe Biden in Xi’s honor.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff also skipped the dinner, as did executives from Pfizer, Nike and FedEx – but Apple’s Tim Cook and the executive vice president of Boeing, Stanley Deal, stayed for the full event.

Musk’s meeting on Wednesday was overshadowed by the row about his support for antisemitic remarks.

A watchdog, Media Matters for America, also dug out claims that a Holocaust denier going by the handle ‘@bambkb’ had made $3,000 from his rhetoric on X.

Musk reacted angrily to the expose, tweeting on Thursday night: ‘Media Matters is an evil organization.’

Media Matters said that @bambkb – whose real identity is unknown, but who has almost 100,000 followers and tweets under the name ‘Kevin – WE THE PEOPLE- DAD’ – had tweeted a deluge of pro-Hitler content.

Musk sparked the firestorm on Wednesday by responding to a man who posted a screed on X criticizing a Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism campaign video.

In the video, a father is seen talking to his son about the online hatred the son has spewed, and calling him out for his rhetoric.

The X user dismissed the video, writing: ‘Jewish communties (sic) have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them. 

‘I’m deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest s*** now about western Jewish populations coming to the disturbing realization that those hordes of minorities that support flooding their country don’t exactly like them too much. 

‘You want truth said to your face, there it is.’

Musk, who has 163 million followers, replied: ‘You have said the actual truth.’ 

DailyMail.com has approached Musk for comment, and received in reply: ‘Busy now, please check back later.’ 

He then, two hours later, wrote: ”decolonization’ necessarily implies a Jewish genocide, thus it is unacceptable to any reasonable person.’

Musk, who has been strongly criticized by the Anti-Defamation League and Israel’s Foreign Ministry for his past remarks, then attacked the ADL, accusing them of racism.

‘And, at the risk of being repetitive, I am deeply offended by ADL’s messaging and any other groups who push de facto anti-white racism or anti-Asian racism or racism of any kind,’ he said. 

‘I’m sick of it. Stop now.’

Musk has a long history of toying with dog-whistle rhetoric about Jewish people, in particular George Soros, who enraged him in May by selling his Tesla stock.

He has also angered people with his response to the Israel-Hamas war.

In the days after the October 7 Hamas terror attack, Musk was forced to delete a tweet which recommended an anti-Semitic account and a promoter of debunked videos as reliable sources of information about the attack on Israel.

The owner of X, formerly Twitter, faced a furious backlash after telling his 159 million followers that the accounts @WarMonitors and @sentdefender were ‘good’ for ‘following the war in real time’.

Followers were quick to point out that @WarMonitors has repeatedly used ‘jew’ as a term of abuse on the platform, telling New York supermarket boss Avi Kaner to ‘mind your own business, jew’.

‘The guy Musk recommends for information on the Israel-Hamas escalation is an anti-Semitic account with a history of spreading misinformation,’ wrote Sam Sokol of Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

On Halloween, Musk appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast and repeated his long-running criticism of the 93-year-old billionaire financier, who has for decades backed progressive causes.

Soros, born in Budapest, survived the Nazi occupation of Hungary and moved first to Britain, then the United States, where he began his hugely-influential philanthropy.

‘He is I believe the top contributor to the Democratic party,’ Musk told Rogan. ‘The second one was Sam Bankman-Fried.

‘And Soros, he had a very difficult upbringing.

‘In my opinion, he fundamentally hates humanity. That’s my opinion.’

Musk said that he was deeply opposed to Soros’ work backing progressive district attorneys, who pursued policies he saw as soft on crime.

‘He’s doing things that erode the fabric of civilization – getting DAs elected who refuse to prosecute crime,’ said Musk.

‘That’s part of the problem in San Francisco, and LA, and a bunch of other cities.

‘So why would you do that?’

Rogan asked: ‘Is it humanity, or just the United States?’

Musk said it was worldwide.

‘He’s pushing things in other countries as well,’ Musk said.

Musk told Rogan that he thought Soros was ‘basically a bit senile at this point’ – in June, Soros handed control of the Open Society Foundations and the rest of his $25 billion empire to his 37-year-old son, Alex.

The foundation directs about $1.5 billion a year to groups such as those backing human rights around the world and helping build democracies. Alex Soros said he intends to broaden the foundation’s priorities to include voting and abortion rights as well as gender equity.

Musk said that the elder Soros had been ‘very smart’ in using his money to achieve his goals.

‘He’s very good at arbitrage – famously he shorted the British pound,’ explained Musk. ‘That’s how I think he made his first money.

Arbitrage is spotting value for money that other people don’t see.

‘And one of the things he noticed is that the value for money in local races is much higher than it is in national races.

‘The lowest value for money is a presidential race. Then next lowest value for money is a senate race, then a congress.

‘And when you get to city and state district attorneys the value for money is extremely good.’

Musk said that Soros found he could help push policies he approved of through local officials.

‘Soros realized that you don’t have to actually change the laws,’ said Musk.

‘You just need to change how they are enforced.

‘If nobody chooses to enforce the laws, or the laws are differentially enforced, then its like changing the laws.’

Musk has previously compared Soros to X-Men supervillain Magneto – a character who manipulates the world and thinks mutants should be in charge, rather than humans.

He made the comments on Twitter in May, following the announcement that Soros’ investment fund had dumped all of their Tesla stock.

Musk responded to Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, saying that the South African-born billionaire was not anti-Semitic, but his remarks were dangerous.

‘He’s arguably the most influential person on the planet controlling what’s essentially our public square. When he repeats conspiracy theories, that feeds the extremists,’ said Greenblatt.

Musk replied: ‘In fairness, I must concede that Joel has a good point and I will endeavor to be more thoughtful in the future.’

He later corrected to tweet to say ‘Jonathan’.  

Musk continued: ‘Comic book analogies are obviously imperfect, to say the least. 

‘Just because George Soros can bend metal using his mind doesn’t mean he’s Magneto!! 

‘Anyway, my actual concern with Soros is that he has funded so many politicians & DAs who are soft even on violent crime, which has caused great damage to many cities imo. 

‘Also, while I am very much in favor of expanding legal immigration, we must have some vetting of who comes in, so that we do not allow dangerous felons to prey upon innocent Americans.’

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Musk’s tweet had resulted in a flood of conspiracy theories and the hashtag ‘The Jews’ to trend on the platform. 

Researchers at Beam found in June that the volume of English-language antisemitic tweets has more than doubled since the company’s takeover by Musk in October 2022.

He has threatened to sue anti-hate organization the Anti-Defamation League for defamation after it criticized him for allowing anti-Semitic content online, but insists he is ‘against antisemitism of any kind’.

In September, Musk swerved the topic of antisemitism when asked during an interview with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.

Musk would not address the subject, other than saying he is ‘obviously against’ it, and spoke more generally about ‘hate speech’ instead.

Netanyahu previously came to Musk’s defense when he was accused of repeating discriminatory tropes about Jewish financier George Soros, and he introduced the subject by reiterating his belief that the Tesla boss does not have anti-Jewish views. 

‘I know of your opposition to anti-Semitism,’ the 73-year-old Israeli leader told Musk during their X discussion. 

‘All I can say is I hope you can find within the confines of the First Amendment the ability to stop not only antisemitism or roll it back as best you can, but any collective hatred of a people that anti-Semitism represents.’ 

‘Obviously I’m against anti-Semitism,’ Musk replied. ‘I’m anti really anything that promotes hate and conflict, and I’m in favor that which helps society and takes us to a better future for humanity collectively.’

But the SpaceX boss didn’t elaborate or defend his controversial statements about Soros, including comparing him to X-Men supervillain Magneto – a character who manipulates the world and thinks mutants should be in charge rather than humans.

Speaking about hate speech generally on X, he said: ‘It’s important to bear in mind that there are 550 million monthly users, now maybe going to 600 million monthly users. 

‘On any given day there’s on the order of 100 to 200 million posts to the system. This is a lot of material. Some of those are going to be bad. 

‘You can’t police it in advance, but you can say after the fact ‘oh it’s getting reported as hate speech’. 

‘We’re not going to promote speech because that’s probably not what people want to hear.’ 

Oh, the excitement among the men in my circle of 45- to 50-year-olds when 25 years ago a little blue pill called Viagra was approved for use in Britain to treat erectile dysfunction.

I don’t remember any of the men using the word “dysfunction” as a reason for wanting to do something about it as soon as possible.

“Why are you so interested in this?” asked those of us – women – who were perfectly content with a close, warm, affectionate and sometimes exciting sex life.

‘What do you want it for? You have no problem.’ “You’re right,” they all nodded sagely. ‘But think about it. We’ll be bigger and stiffer – guaranteed. You’ll all love it.’

How our hearts sank. Had they never listened when we told them it wasn’t the size that mattered, but how they used their equipment that got us so excited?

Were their ears closed when, on the rare occasions when they seemed to wither a little, they said that we didn’t really care. We weren’t as hungry for it day to day as we were when we were younger.

Yes, sex was great at times. But as we got older, the need for them to perform – to affirm their masculinity and our femininity – became less and less pressing every time we got into bed.

Often a kiss, a hug and a good night’s sleep was completely satisfying. We didn’t want to fight our exhaustion and deal with a chemically induced expression of desire at all times of the day and night.

We didn’t want this to last much longer. We didn’t want to have to deal with the aftermath of some over-enthusiastic abuse.

No, from the moment it was launched in 1998, Viagra was no longer on our shopping list. With Viagra we had a scientific discovery that was completely male-centric and ignored the views and needs of women.

We weren’t even asked for our opinion on whether a priapic husband or lover would be a good thing. The men surveyed thought it was a great idea and went on to give Pfizer one of the most lucrative accidental discoveries in medical science.

The pill was almost overlooked. A group of Pfizer chemists conducted a medical trial for an angina drug on young men in Sandwich, Kent. The men did not respond well to the medications; five of the eight had ‘very hard erections’ as a result.

Only when it became apparent that these patients were reluctant to give back the anti-anginal medications did the penny drop. Bingo!

Some more research and Viagra was born. There is a plaque marking the moment of the launch in Sandwich; the chemist who led the project has a knighthood.

But the development of Viagra was something of a disaster for women. In 2018, designer Diane von Furstenberg described it as “the worst thing to happen to women in the last fifteen years.”

I have plenty of friends who have told me they completely agree with her. They have often felt like they should just say no, but in that kind and generous way that women so often suffer from, they have been afraid to reject any approach because they don’t want to make the man feel like he is is no longer loved or wanted. .

Instead, they’ve suffered from constant bullying – and it’s gotten worse as they’ve gotten older and their own libido has waned.

In 2022 alone, 4.35 million prescriptions were distributed, and the oldest user was 99 years old.

Former Senator Bob Dole, then 75, appeared in the US launch commercial. Hugh Hefner took so much of it that after he died at 91, his wife revealed that it left him deaf in one ear.

Michael Douglas, 79, and Jack Nicholson, 86, both took it.

Some younger men, including cricketer Freddie Flintoff, now 45, have been seduced by it.

After taking three Viagra one night during a Test match, he recalled: “Trying to bat in that state the next day was not easy. I was exhausted simply because I couldn’t move. All I could do was jump.” That’s just not cricket. Pity the poor wives and girlfriends of all.

The interesting thing Viagra has taught us about sex is that making one of those mighty erections possible by relaxing the blood vessels in the penis doesn’t increase desire. You still have to be ready to be ready.

Murray Blacket, a psychosexual therapist, recently noted: ‘Before Viagra, erectile dysfunction was thought to be 90 percent psychological and 10 percent organic. With everything the drug companies have released over the years, that has now been reversed.

It is mainly seen as an organic, physical problem.’

May I then suggest, guys, that it is time to think about this carefully. Maybe you can’t get up without Viagra because you watch too much pornography, don’t exercise, don’t eat well, and rarely sleep well. You are old, you are exhausted, you and your partner are past childbearing age. The Full Monty is no longer necessary.

Viagra has possible side effects: headaches, nausea, digestive problems, and dizziness are common.

There is also a risk of embarrassing priapism (an erection that won’t go away) and even cardiac arrest.

Instead, guys, get fit, stop worrying about your penis and learn how to love the woman you love. She will thank you and will never think that you don’t like her anymore. A kiss, a hug and an ‘I love you’ are fine.

Believe me, I know.

They didn’t look like that at all!

We’re excited in this household that tonight sees the start of the final series of The Crown. It is the first television program that my Ukrainian guest, Zoriana, is looking forward to. It’s very big there, she tells me.

Everyone loves to learn about the real life of the British Royal Family. I didn’t want to disappoint her by saying that it’s not all true, or that so many of the characters bear only a passing resemblance to the genuine article. Glad Meg Bellamy is a dead ringer for the Princess of Wales. Zoriana loves Kate.

But William and Harry? Oh dear!

TV proves that women’s prisons are still bad

I can’t remember the last time I cried during a TV programme, but Jimmy McGovern’s BBC drama Time (starring Jodie Whittaker) brought me to tears.

A young woman, abused by her drug dealer boyfriend, discovers she is pregnant. One of her cellmates helps deliver her baby. She finds a rare place in a mother and baby ward. She is drug free and loses the house and her baby thanks to her boyfriend’s abuse.

In 2007, Baroness Corston published her report on the damage children suffer from the harsh, often short sentences served by their mothers.

She proposed a conventional prison, only for women who are dangerous. Why are her proposals still on the shelf?

I will always remember the joy of the original Avon ladies

“Ding-dong, Avon is calling,” I often heard in my youth as we teased my Avon Lady mother.

So I was relieved to hear that the role will continue, even as the cosmetics giant is now launching stores to reach more working women.

Some traditions should never die.

So Suella Braverman’s resignation letter… Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his special advisers have clearly forgotten the saying: ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.’

Follow: @wjm

A mother of two claims she has been in debilitating pain and is now dependent on a wheelchair to get around after receiving three doses of a Covid vaccine.

Mel Guevremont, 37, says she’s gone from an avid gym-goer, surfer, snowboarder and rock climber to barely able to take a few steps around her house before her legs give out.

Ms Guevremont, from Sydney, claims her body has broken down and she has been forced to wear a neck brace since she received her third mRNA vaccine from Pfizer in March 2021.

The data from the TGA shows that there were 137,750 adverse reactions recorded for the 64.7 million COVID vaccine doses administered.

“It completely and utterly destroyed my life,” she told Daily Mail Australia.

‘I’m skin and bone. I don’t recognize myself. It’s not my body and I wake up every day with a new symptom. It’s a grieving process.’

Ms Guevremont and her partner Richard Ellison, who moved to Australia from Canada seven years ago, said they were forced to sell their Manly unit because it was on the fourth floor and she struggles with stairs.

They now live with their two boys in a single storey house in Maroubra, a suburb in southeastern Sydney.

Ms. Guevremont said she has spent more than $25,000 visiting specialists, including neurologists and rheumatologists, but has not found them helpful.

Her comments come after a landmark class action lawsuit was filed in April against the Australian government, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and the Department of Health.

The nationwide lawsuit, which reportedly has 500 members, seeks redress for those allegedly injured or robbed by the Covid vaccines.

Ms Guevremont said she was a fit and healthy woman who regularly participated in outdoor activities, but her active lifestyle has changed dramatically.

“Right before these punches I was snowboarding in New Zealand. The only problem I had was a bruised knee from too much surfing and basketball,” she said.

‘I was an adrenaline junkie. I didn’t stop. It’s quite a collision for me to barely be able to hold a cup of coffee or hold my own neck.

“How do you go from snowboarding, tearing up a mountain, and having a great time, only to find you can’t hold your neck anymore?”

Ms. Guevremont claims she also suffers from electric shock, unexplained weight loss and physical weakness.

“I went to a beauty salon and after a while I couldn’t feel my legs anymore,” she said.

“When I tried to get up, my legs collapsed completely. I laughed a little and brushed it off.

“I thought it might have to do with post-pregnancy hormones.”

Ms. Guevremont says she struggles to do basic physical activities, such as walking to the park or even picking up her two boys, ages two and four.

‘It breaks my heart. My youngest wants to play soccer, and he knows I’ve played soccer with him before, and all of a sudden I can’t,” she said.

“I wonder if I’ll be there for my kids.”

The mom has been making goodbye videos for her boys, just in case she’s “not around” when they get older.

In July 2021, Ms Guevremont contracted Covid-19, which she said took four days to get over, after which “she was fine”.

In November 2021, her condition deteriorated and she passed out and collapsed.

“My partner rushed me to hospital and I stayed there for a week,” she said.

She said a specialist suggested she may have a “post-vaccination syndrome and possibly a post-viral syndrome,” although she wrote only the second diagnosis in her notes.

In referrals from Daily Mail Australia, hospitals and neurologists have diagnosed Ms Guevremont with ‘suspected vaccine damage’.

Last year Ms Guevremont self-reported as a vaccine injury to the TGA but said she was still waiting for a response.

“They fail to follow up and investigate,” she said.

A TGA spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that a ‘confirmation email requesting further information has been sent in response to an adverse event report submitted by Ms Guevremont’.

They added: ‘The TGA strongly encourages vaccine recipients and healthcare professionals to report their experience of suspected side effects, even if there is only a very remote possibility that a vaccine was the cause.

“The TGA uses these reports to look for patterns in the reporting that may indicate a new safety signal for a vaccine.”

The spokesperson said such a signal will lead to “appropriate regulatory action, including making changes to a vaccine’s product information and communicating information to physicians.”

“To date, the TGA has taken more than 43 regulatory actions to include new safety information in product information documents,” the TGA representative said.

But Ms Guevremont said she felt “let down” and turned to Kerryn Phelps, the former head of the Australian Medical Association, for help.

Last December, Professor Phelps told a parliamentary inquiry into long Covid that both she and her wife had been injured by vaccination.

Ms Guevremont said Professor Phelps was very kind and supportive in referring her to a neurologist who “specialized in vaccine injuries” but who turned out to be too busy to see her.

She also condemned Services Australia’s vaccine injury compensation scheme.

“The compensation scheme is a joke,” she said.

The Pfizer vaccine compensation scheme includes about 10 eligible conditions, but these do not include neurological conditions such as Guillain-Barre syndrome and transverse myelitis, although they are listed for AstraZeneca injections.

“The TGA and regulators around the world continue to monitor and analyze Covid-19 vaccine safety data from hundreds of millions of people, and the latest evidence from clinical trials and peer-reviewed medical literature,” the TGA spokesperson said.

“This information continues to overwhelmingly support the safe and effective use of Covid-19 vaccines.

“It remains the consensus of international regulators and health departments that the benefits of Covid-19 vaccination still far outweigh the rare risks.”

Ms. Guevremont is currently researching experimental treatments and may be moving to the US to receive them.

She has also been involved in social media groups sharing claims of vaccine injuries.

Her partner has one GoFundMe to help fund the family’s possible relocation or to fund treatment in Australia if his wife is not well enough to travel.