Fertility and Infertility Research News Portal

It didnt help that, in November, false stories started circulating on social media, claiming that the head of Pfizer research a man named Michael Yeadon, who it later transpired hadnt worked for the company for more than nine years - had called the Pfizer vaccine, female sterilisation.

The claims were debunked but Angelica Malin, an author and small business owner who lives in north London, was scared off. She turns 30 this week and wont have the vaccine until shes been reassured it wont affect her fertility.

Im single and Ive been thinking of freezing my eggs for a while, she says. When I saw the panic spreading on social media about the effect on fertility, I now want to freeze my eggs sooner and give myself the best chance of having children, before having the vaccine. I just worry it hasnt been tested enough.

At the beginning of January, however, the guidance from Public Health England changed, stating: The earlyCovid-19vaccines do not contain organisms that can multiply in the body, so they cannot infect an unborn baby in the womb.

Evidence reviewed so far by the UK Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has raised no concerns over safety in pregnancy and The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) even recognised the potential benefits of vaccination as particularly important for some pregnant women those in the Covid high risk or vulnerable categories.

Dr Victoria Male a lecturer in reproductive immunology at Imperial College in London, has looked at the science behind the vaccine and says there is no reason to believe it will impact a womans fertility.

When the vaccine was first approved, the guidance was extremely cautious because it hadnt been tested on pregnant women, she says. Since then, a study published by Pfizer on December 10 - which vaccinated pregnant rats, and rats who later became pregnant - revealed there was no impact on the rats themselves or their babies.

This evidence shows there is no cause for concern when it comes to the affect on human fertility. Add to this the fact that during phase 3 trials conducted last year by Pfizer, 23 women participating became pregnant by accident, and safety is looking more certain.

Crucially, there are risks involved in not having the vaccine and getting infected with Covid while pregnant.

In the first trimester, pregnant women with Covid dont do any worse, says Dr Male. But in the third trimester, Covid puts a lot of pressure on the heart and lungs, which are already under pressure from pregnancy. Although we cant cure the Covid, we can relieve the pressure by delivering the baby earlier, which means a premature baby is a more likely outcome not ideally how youd want to start a family.

Read more:
Some women are scared about the Covid vaccine harming their fertility should they be? - Telegraph.co.uk