Do COVID-19 Vaccines Cause Infertility in Women?

Türkçe Olarak Devam Edin

In this article, you will find evidence-based answers to conspiracy theories on infertility after COVID-19 vaccine administration.

And you will realize that speculative discourses which are frequently raised by anti-vaccine opponents are only unsubstantiated claims,

And word of mouth has been increased just to confuse people and to create a vaccine hesitancy.

You can reach details regarding conspiracy theories on males in the previous article with the title of “Not The Vaccine, But COVID-19 Causes Male Infertility”

Vaccines are unlikely to interfere with fertility in men or women by any mechanism considering their mode of action.

In any case, the owners of this claim indeed do not have any data or evidence;

These conspiracy theories have been brought up to the table in every single opportunity that they can find,

Because the anti-vaccine community know that fertility and progeny are quite sensitive issues for both sexes,

And even creating a mere suspicion will meet their objectives.

As those who are interested in vaccines will know very well, groups against vaccines have always claimed in the pre-pandemic era that not only COVID-19, but also many other vaccines could cause infertility…

In contrast to their claims, the human race is growing at an incredible speed.

After all,

Anti-vaccine opponents do not have to prove their claims; they only tend to create an environment of confusion and then step back.

For this reason, even if they can’t prove it, they want to create a suspicion and hesitation against vaccines with the logic of “throw the mud, leave the traces/mess around”.

Unfortunately, they get succeeded in convincing some people…

As of the week of October 25th, 2021, 6.88 billion doses of vaccine have been administered in the world,

And 24.16 million people continue to be vaccinated every day…

This is an incredibly huge amount.

And to date, there have been no reported fertility issues in individuals who have received either mRNA or adenovirus vector vaccines!!!

Do the COVID-19 vaccines cause infertility in women?

COVID-19 Vaccines Cause Infertility : A Conspiracy Theory

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) clearly states that mRNA vaccines are not thought to cause

Any increased risk of infertility,

First or second trimester baby loss,

Stillbirth, or

Congenital anomalies

Additionally, CDC conclusively states that “there is no evidence that fertility problems are a side effect of ANY vaccine.”

Several clinical trials are currently underway to evaluate the efficacy and side effects of COVID-19 vaccines on pregnant or breastfeeding womeni as well as long term infertility outcomes.

Within the scientific methodology, it will take some time for data on fertility effects to emerge.

However…

Many people have already become pregnant after COVID-19 vaccines, including those vaccinated during COVID-19 clinical trials.

For example, you can access the detailed FDA Report on the mRNA vaccine here….

In addition, a study based on data from the US V-Safe safety monitoring system reported that 4,800 people tested positive after receiving the first dose of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.

Another study utilizing data from the US healthcare system reported that more than 1,000 people completed the COVID-19 vaccine (with any COVID-19 vaccine) before getting pregnant.

In another study, women were divided into three groups and followed up:

Those who have antibodies with COVID-19 vaccination

Those with antibodies after previous COVID-19 infection

Those who did not form antibodies (people with neither vaccination nor a history of previous infection)

No difference in conception rates has been found between the three groups!!!

This shows no sign of infertility in women population, as well as shown in other male studies on infertility outcomes.

Indeed, based on the CDC’s Vaccine Safety Data, 16.3% of pregnant women have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy.

False Claims Regarding Infertiliy in Women Cohort:

Claims that Vaccine Accumulates in Ovaries in a Study: FALSE

This hypothesis stems from a misreading (somewhat deliberately misreading) of a study submitted to the Japanese licensing authority.

It is a piece of information tweezed from the results of a study in rats from the hundreds of pages of reports shared during the vaccine license application…

In fact,

There is an important point that those who carefully captured and served this data on social media have already been aware, but censored:

It was an animal study to find the toxic dose,
The rats were given 1,333 times the dose administered to humans!!!

Yes, one thousand three hundred and thirty three times more dose to the amount that is administered to us…

But how could the anti-vaccine people create a sensation, if they had shared this detailed information with you, right????

The Claim that Vaccines Cause Miscarriages Based on Post Vaccine Monitoring Data: FALSE

Some social media posts feature disinformation by highlighting abortions reported in vaccine monitoring plans, including the UK Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority (MHRA) and the US Vaccine Side Effects Reporting System (VAERS).

First of all, let me remind you:

Although there is an official organization behind the aforementioned notification systems, reporting is open access to everyone.

Yes, you got it right,

You do not need to be a healthcare worker to register with VAERS,

Everyone, but anyone you can think of can report any adverse event!!!

Miscarriages have indeed been reported in these databases;

However, this does not mean that they are caused by the vaccine.

Some women who get pregnant will have miscarriages;

Unfortunately, some women will encounter this undesirable event whether they are vaccinated or not…

This is the fact of life.

The important point is whether there is an increase in the frequency of the adverse events seen in the community compared to the ones in the pre-vaccine era!!!

A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), one of the most reputable scientific journals, found that the rate of miscarriage observed in vaccinated people was 13.9%, which is similar to the expected rate in the general population.

Interestingly, the usual vaccine-related side effects such as headache, myalgia (muscle pain), and fever were observed less frequently in vaccinated pregnant women than in non-pregnant women.

There would be a problem here if the miscarriage rates in vaccinated women were higher than expected in the general population,

However, since there are proportionally similar results in those who are vaccinated and not, the claims of conspiracy theorists, which have no scientific basis, should be ignored.

It had been argued that the supposed similarity between the placental structure syncytin-1 and the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein may trigger immune reactivity that can cause infertility in women.

The underlying hypothesis was that those antibodies that have been formed against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein would also attack syncytin-1…

Infact scientific principles are built on evidence, not opinions.

Shortly after, Dr Randy Morris, an IVF specialist, has started a clinical trial to observe whether vaccination of IVF patients would make a difference in terms of having a successful pregnancy or not.

143 women included in the study were divided into three groups as vaccinated, unvaccinated, and previously infected.

And as a result, he observed that there were no differences between the women in all three groups in terms of successful embryo implantation and continuation of the pregnancy.

Another study as a complementary evidence found that women with the COVID vaccine had no difference in markers of ovarian follicle quality compared to unvaccinated women.

One other study evaluated the risk of miscarriage in vaccinated women.

If antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein had allegedly caused problems for the placenta, miscarriages should have been experienced…

However, the results were disappointing for vaccine opponents…

Because in a study published in a very prestigious scientific journal such as NEJM, it was shown that mRNA vaccine did not increase the risk of miscarriage in pregnancy as a result of the follow-up of 2456 women.

Is it all over???

Of course not…

The science is pretty clear that the vaccine is safe during pregnancy.

In studies conducted on pregnant women vaccinated in Canada and the USA,

Side effects were similar to non-pregnant women and

Pregnancy complications and outcomes related to the baby were similar to those observed in the general population.

And even…

Regardless of any possible risk;

Studies have also shown that vaccination during pregnancy provides baby some protection against COVID.

Because antibodies in cord blood and breast milk provide temporary protection (called passive immunity) for babies.

And getting vaccinated at any stage of pregnancy provides this additional benefit.

The article titled “Are COVID-19 vaccines safe in pregnancy?” which was published in Nature, has a level of evidence that could end discussions on this topic.

Referance No 1: United States Food & Drug Administration. Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (BNT162, PF-07302048). Vaccines and related biological products advisory committee briefing document

Referance No 2: United States Food & Drug Administration. Vaccines and related biological products advisory committee meeting December 17, 2020. FDA briefing document: Moderna COVID-19 vaccine

Referance No 3: Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Public assessment report authorisation for temporary supply. COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca, solution for injection in multidose container COVID-19 vaccine (ChAdOx1-S [recombinant])

As seen in the comparison table, the pregnancy rates in the vaccine group and the control group consisting of the unvaccinated were the same.

If the COVID-19 vaccines had reduced fertility, there would have been fewer unintended pregnancies in the vaccinated groups compared to the control groups.

However, it was shown that the rate of pregnancies was same between the groups in the follow-up of approximately 80,000 women…

There is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines reduce and/or affect fertility.

The numbers in this comparison may not be enough to indicate that there is no effect from the perspective of science,

But there is no biological reason to suspect an effect, and there is no data to support this baseless claim.

The evidence is clear.

The results support each other.

The available data is satisfactory and precise.

On the other hand, studies show that pregnant women with COVID-19 are at higher risk of serious illness compared to their non-pregnant peers!!!

Although the absolute risk for severe COVID-19 is low in pregnant women compared to non-pregnant women with symptomatic COVID-19 infection,