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MAFS’ Bryce and Melissa slammed for ‘irresponsible’ video about Pfizer jab
Married At First Sight stars Bryce Ruthven and Melissa Rawson have been called out by followers after seemingly implying that their twin sons were born 10 weeks premature because of Melissa’s second Pfizer jab.
The reality TV couple shared a video to both of their social media pages on Monday discussing the health of their babies, Levi and Tate, who are currently in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
“We had no medical indication that they were coming early, so it was a very big shock,” Melissa said in the video while sitting next to her fiancé, Bryce.
“On Friday the 15th I actually had my second Pfizer jab booked in, and I’d obviously gone to the doctors and spoke to my obstetrician and they had all said that it was safe for pregnant women to get their Pfizer jab but yeah, I had mine done and 14 hours later, I’d gone into labour.”
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It didn’t take long for the pair to receive backlash on their post as there is no medical evidence suggesting that the COVID-19 vaccine causes premature labour, according to the Australian Government Health website.
The source actually states that pregnant women have a higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 and a greater chance of giving birth prematurely if they are not vaccinated.
As well as this, it’s also very common for twins to be born early, with less than half of all twin pregnancies lasting more than 37 weeks. According to Reuters Health, one in every 10 sets of twins is born before the 32-week mark, just as Melissa and Bryce’s sons were.
A number of fans have since commented on the viral video, with one person labelling it “totally irresponsible”.
“It’s pretty normal twins would be delivered that early - how dare you suggest the jab had something to do with it,” another added.
“Are you blaming the COVID jab for the twins being born prematurely?” someone else asked. “Lots of twins are premature. Your post already has people talking about pregnant women not getting the jab. Just wondering was that your intention.”
“Correlation doesn’t equal causation. This is dangerous to suggest it had anything to do with a very normal twin birth which after 28 weeks is absolutely expected they could arrive early,” a fourth wrote.
“I've had the jab and didn't go into premature labour and a lot of women who had the jab that I know haven't either. She was pregnant with twins and more than half are born early so it is possible that it was actually coincidental,” another shared.
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion but I'm really worried that this is blaming the COVID vaccination on what is likely a coincidence with no medical proof that it's linked,” a different user replied.
“It is so incredibly dangerous for pregnant women to get COVID and [this video] may deter people from getting it, potentially putting themselves and baby in more danger.”
Bryce has since responded to the criticism in a statement to Daily Mail on Tuesday, saying that he wasn’t aware of any backlash.
“We also haven't blamed the COVID vaccine for Melissa giving birth early,” he said.
“It's safe for pregnant women to receive it from a particular point during their pregnancy. That short video is from an extended video being released tonight, which will make it very clear for everyone to know our thoughts on the matter.”
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