Covid vaccine WON’T make you infertile or harm your pregnancy, health experts say as they debunk anti-vaxx conspiracies
COVID-19 vaccines do not impact fertility or harm a woman’s unborn baby, doctors have said.
The reassurance comes as anti-vaxx myths circulate on social media, breeding concern among women of childbearing age when the vaccine and data are so new.
This and other myths are fuelling vaccine hesitancy across the US, with women and couples delaying getting their jabs. The existing data has not reassured all American mothers, pregnant women, and others who are trying for a baby now or wish to have children in the future.
One mother-of-two, who asked not to be named, told The Sun: “How can you promise a safe drug [or] vaccine within a year of it coming out?
“I just have fears in general. Especially since I have had two pregnancies and one miscarriage. I’m all for shots, it just hasn’t been tested long enough.”
Meanwhile, a 31-year-old who fell ill with Covid-19 last December and still has "a high number of antibodies" according to her doctor, said she’s concerned the vaccine might impact her chances of conceiving.
“I’ve never tried to get pregnant before and according to my doctor I’m perfectly fine to start trying, but if for some reason I can’t get pregnant I know my first instinct would be to blame myself for getting the vaccine, and I don’t want to do that.
“If some positive [information] comes out in the next few months before I start trying, then I would consider getting it.”
The concerns have prompted doctors to speak out and address vaccine hesitancy and misinformation online, which could prove deadly as Covid itself poses a far greater threat to pregnant women and their unborn babies.
“This new variant is horrific - it’s worse than anything we’ve seen before,” Alvero added.
It comes as Covid cases , with reports of many ending up in the hospital, placed on ventilators, or even .
Recently, the 's Covid Response Team the low vaccine rates among pregnant Americans and urged expectant moms to get the jab "before or during pregnancy”.
Acknowledging vaccine hesitancy, Dr Sigal Klipstein, a member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine's (ASRM) Covid Task Force, told The Sun many of her patients have echoed the views of these women.
So here, we’ve asked Klipstein, Alvero, and a panel of experts to address the common myths linked to fertility, pregnancy, and the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines - the three shots approved in the so far.
MYTH 1: The shot can impact fertility
"Number One, the vaccine itself never reaches the placenta because it lingers in the area of injection for some time," said Alvero. "So there's no impact on baby in any way.
"The antibodies do cross the placenta, which is good because they protect you, they protect the baby," Alvero told The Sun. "So, when the baby is born, it has maternal antibodies from the vaccine circulating in its blood that will protect it down the road."
The team is working with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, doctors, and community leaders to address the low vaccination rates amongst expectant moms as the aggressive Delta variant spreads.
There is no harm in taking the vaccine, there is a lot of benefit in not getting Covid.
Dr Ruben Alvero
Reassuring new moms who are nervous about getting the shot, Alvero said: "We have really good data on the protectiveness of the vaccine for both mom and baby – so it's not just the mom: when the baby is born, they are protected."
One rumor published on a blog was the bogus claim the vaccine's spike protein "trained" the female body to attack the protein Syncytin-1, which is vital for placenta development because they are too alike – but Pollack pointed out that the proteins are not actually similar.
"As far as we know in 2021, there's no basis for those fears," Pollack told The Sun, citing a June 2021 study of participants who were undergoing fertility treatments.
Sadly, infertility affects one out of every nine couples regardless – but Pollack noted that there's infertility in or women is triggered by the vaccine.
For example, back in February Pfizer approximately 4,000 healthy pregnant women 18 years and older received their second dose at 24 to 34 weeks of gestation and would be monitored for seven to ten months.
Acknowledging the vaccine hesitancy amongst women of childbearing age, Klipstein said: "I have a number of patients who are concerned about the effects of vaccination on their fertility.
Pfizer's Phase 3 clinical trial includes more than 44,000 people who will be after their second dose; the company noted that although expectant mothers weren't included, some women fell pregnant during the trial.
CDC spokesperson Martha Sharan said there is currently "no evidence that any vaccines, including Covid-19 vaccines, cause female or male fertility problems – problems getting pregnant.";
"The CDC does not recommend routine pregnancy testing before COVID-19 vaccination. If you are trying to become pregnant, you do not need to avoid pregnancy after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine," Sharan said.
"CDC’s analysis found that safety was of concern for the entire age group, but CDC did not dig into the specific safety concerns, like infertility," she added.
Meanwhile, Pollack referenced fertility doctors and obstetrician-gynecologists (OB-GYN) on a "fertility journey" themselves who have chosen to get the vaccine.
"Are there any OB-GYNs or fertility doctors that are pregnant and get the vaccine or [intend to get pregnant] and get the vaccine?
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"The answer is yes, there are,"; she concluded.
"And those are probably our most informed population."
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