As roll outs of the coronavirus vaccine continue, misinformation on social media has meant that many are asking questions around the coronavirus vaccine and fertility. 'Does the coronavirus vaccine impact fertility?', people Googled, alongside questions like 'Can covid vaccine affect future pregnancy?' and 'Covid vaccine and trying to get pregnant?'. The short answer? No, the Covid vaccine doesn't impact fertility. But despite a number of experts confirming this, fears still seem to be high.
Because, in a public document released for healthcare professionals initially, the government stated under a section on 'Fertility, pregnancy and lactation' that 'It is unknown whether COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine BNT162b2 has an impact on fertility.' That was meant to relay that studies hadn't been undertaken on the topic, because there was no plausible reason for scientists to think it would.
That's because there is lots of evidence from other non-live virus vaccines, including the flu jab, that they have no impact on fertility and are completely safe and recommended for use during pregnancy. The wording however, just stressed people out.
Add that to the provisional guidance also put out by the Public Health England, where it was stated that while there are no known risks or safety concerns, pregnant women are advised against having the coronavirus vaccine. Again, this was because there hadn't been enough studies conducted on pregnant women to know for sure - and while there was no known risk, it wasn't worth rolling out the vaccine until more studies had taken place. Largely, advice on treatments during pregnancy is extremely cautious and pregnant women are generally not included in clinical trials of any vaccine - something some have been campaigning to change.
That decision has now been changed, and as of April 16, all pregnant women will be offered the covid vaccine in the UK.
So, what's the deal then? What are the actual experts saying? Should we be worried about the covid vaccine and fertility at all? Well, not according to the actual scientists - as oppose to, you know, that random lady on your Facebook.
Can pregnant women in the UK have the covid vaccine?
It was announced on April 16 that all pregnant women in the UK will now be offered the coronavirus vaccine.
All pregnant women will be offered the Pfizer or Moderna jab based on their age and clinical risk group after data from the US showed about 90,000 pregnant women had been vaccinated without any safety concerns, the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said.
Pregnant women - who had been advised not to get the vaccine - will now be able to have the covid vaccine at any stage of pregnancy.
The new guidance states that women who are trying to conceive, recently had a baby or are breastfeeding can be vaccinated with any jab, depending on their age and clinical risk group.
Prof Wei Shen Lim of the JCVI said: 'There have been no specific safety concerns from any brand of Covid-19 vaccines in relation to pregnancy. There are more real-world safety data from the US in relation to the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines in women who are pregnant – therefore, we advise a preference for these to be offered to pregnant women.” The Oxford/AstraZeneca jab has not yet been approved for rollout in the US.
Does the coronavirus vaccine impact fertility?
NHS surgeon and lecturer at Imperial College and the University of Sunderland, Dr Karan Rajan has taken to TikTok to quell any concerns.
'There is no reason to expect an effect on fertility, specific research would've been done if there were a plausible reason to expect this being a problem,' he says in a TikTok video with over 11,000 likes. 'Instead, the risk of Covid-19 affecting your fertility is far greater.'
This great Twitter thread has also now been shared widely on the social networking site, and goes through the issues very thoroughly...
This information is more vital than ever, with studies showing that young women are the most likely to refuse the vaccine because of fertility concerns. According to a survey of 55,000 Britons by Find Out Now, the group most likely to refuse the vaccine is currently 18- to 34-year-old women - many citing worries about fertility. With more than a quarter saying that they wouldn’t take it, compared with 18 per cent in the survey overall, it's a worrying trend.
But according to the experts, if the vaccine was going to affect fertility at large, we would know it from the way women's bodies have reacted to the coronavirus too.
According to Dr Victoria Male, a lecturer in reproductive immunology at Imperial College London, the original fears about the vaccine impacting fertility were based on the argument that a very small stretch of amino acids in the spike protein - which is the part of the virus the Pfizer vaccine teaches our bodies to attack - is similar to one in a protein in the placenta.
So, some worried that the antibodies we develop could attack the placenta as well as the virus. But, as Dr Male explained to The i, if this was going to happen it would've happened when women got the virus originally.
'We have evidence this doesn’t happen, because we are now seeing people becoming pregnant having had Covid-19 in the spring,' she told the publication. 'No one who is serious about vaccines or immunology is worried about this.'
Dr Virginia Beckett, Clinical Lead for Reproductive Medicine in Bradford, also shared her expert advice on whether the vaccine could impact fertility, stating 'it is just not biologically possible, we've got no evidence to suggest that there's an affect on fertility and I would really urge you to consider having the vaccine.'
Why couldn't pregnant women previously get the coronavirus vaccine?
When coronavirus first took over our lives, many pregnant women feared the virus when they were placed in the vulnerable category of at-risk people. But actually, according to the NHS website, that was just a precaution because so little was known about the virus.
‘There's no evidence that pregnant women are more likely to get seriously ill from coronavirus,’ it reads. ‘But pregnant women have been included in the list of people at moderate risk (clinically vulnerable) as a precaution. This is because pregnant women can sometimes be more at risk from viruses like flu. It's not clear if this happens with coronavirus. But because it's a new virus, it's safer to include pregnant women in the moderate-risk group.’
Many were confused why they weren't a high priority in getting vaccinated given pregnant women are classed as clinically vulnerable. Well, according to Public Health England, it was because pregnant women weren’t included in clinical trials - as they generally aren't in any vaccine trials - and so there wasn't enough evidence about how it impacts them. To err on the side of caution then, pregnant women were told to wait until their pregnancy is completed to get the vaccine, or if they're high risk discuss it with their doctor first.
‘As with most pharmaceutical products, specific clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine in pregnant women have not been carried out,’ their guidance read. ‘Although the available data do not indicate any safety concern or harm to pregnancy, there is insufficient evidence to recommend routine use of COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy. Vaccination should be postponed until completion of pregnancy.’
Pregnant women who are frontline health or social care workers, including carers in a residential home, were alreadty told to discuss the option of vaccination. This is because the risk of exposure to COVID-19 may be higher, even if they have a lower risk of experiencing complications if they are otherwise well.
Can you get the coronavirus vaccine while breastfeeding?
According to the governments website, yes.
'There are no data on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in breastfeeding or on the breastfed infant,' it states. 'Despite this, COVID-19 vaccines are not thought to be a risk to the breastfeeding infant, and the benefits of breast-feeding are well known. Because of this, the JCVI has recommended that the vaccine can be received whilst breastfeeding. This is in line with recommendations in the USA and from the World Health Organisation.'
As was the theme of 2020, all of this seems to be causing a divided reaction. For pregnant women desperate to have the vaccine and return to a somewhat normal life, there is undoubtedly disappointment. But for others worried about the risks - albeit unnecessarily as there are no known risks right now - it may come as a relief. At least, Google data would tell you so.
In the past month, searches for the infamous thalidomide have gone through the roof - as they tend to whenever a new vaccine or treatment is offered to pregnant women. In case you forgot, thalidomide was a drug developed in the 1950's in West Germany. It was used across Europe to treat morning sickness in pregnant women but went on to cause birth defects and the deaths of around 2000 children. It was removed from the European market in 1961. Horror stories have been told ever since.
There is no known risk.
But of course, it's important to remember that not only was thalidomide not a vaccination at all, it has been more than 70 years since this tragedy occurred with countless medical and scientific advancements made in that time. Rules and regulations around clinical trails and testing have also improved substantially since then, as expected.
‘There is no known risk associated with giving inactivated, recombinant viral or bacterial vaccines or toxoids during pregnancy or whilst breast-feeding,’ Public Health England states. ‘Since inactivated vaccines cannot replicate, they cannot cause infection in either the mother or the foetus. Although [the Covid-19] vaccine contains a live adenovirus vector, this virus is not replicating so will not cause infection in the mother or the foetus.’
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The Reality of Childbirth Amid Coronavirus: It's Strange Yes, But Beautiful And Hopeful, Too