Conspiracy theorists wrong: Women’s fertility not affected by COVID-19 vaccine

By Tom Campbell via SWNS

Scientists say a woman's fertility is not affected by the COVID-19 vaccine - despite what conspiracy theorists claim.

Getting vaccinated against the virus makes no difference to a woman's chances of falling pregnant with IVF, according to a new study.

Scare tactics spread on social media have caused many women to fear getting vaccinated over possible side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines on their ability to get pregnant.

Other conspiracy theorists claim the vaccine has caused other side effects, leading to many worrying about their health and wellbeing.

Women looking to get pregnant through in-vitro fertilization (IVF), which can be a long and stressful process, have wondered whether it could stop them from becoming a mother while others have not been vaccinated.

Now scientists have found women undergoing IVF treatment need not worry as the COVID-19 jab has no bearing on their chances of success, the experts said.

In fact, not only does it help protect them from the potentially deadly virus, but it also passes on COVID-19 fighting antibodies to their infant.

Dr. Devora Aharon, a first author of the study at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, said: “This is one of the largest studies to review fertility and IVF cycle outcomes in patients who received COVID-19 vaccinations. 

"The study found no significant differences in response to ovarian stimulation, egg quality, embryo development, or pregnancy outcomes between the vaccinated compared to unvaccinated patients.

“Our findings that vaccination had no impact on these outcomes should be reassuring to those who are trying to conceive or are in early pregnancy.”

The researchers studied two groups of patients being treated at RMA of New York between last February and September to see whether their Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine had any impact on their pregnancy.

The first group was made up of vaccinated and unvaccinated women whose eggs were removed and fertilized by sperm in a laboratory.

The fertilized egg - or embryo, was then frozen before being thawed and transferred back into the patient's' womb.

Similar rates of pregnancy and early pregnancy loss were observed among the 214 vaccinated and 733 unvaccinated patients, the researcher found.

In the second group, the researchers looked at vaccinated and unvaccinated women who underwent medical treatment to stimulate their egg's development.

Again, a similar number of eggs were retrieved and fertilized regardless of whether they had been vaccinated against COVID-19 or not.

The same was true for embryos with a normal number of chromosomes and other measures taken from the 222 vaccinated and 983 unvaccinated patients in the second group.

The findings should ease any anxiety people looking to get pregnant may have had about getting vaccinated against COVID-19, scientists said.

Professor Alan Copperman, a senior author of the study, said: "By leveraging science and big data, we can help reassure patients of reproductive age and enable them to make the best decisions for themselves. 

"It will give people comfort to know that the COVID-19 vaccine does not affect their reproductive potential."

The findings come as many countries around the world are fighting a surge in the highly contagious Omicron variant.

Vaccinations have been found to help protect pregnant people from the virus and severely reduce the risk of hospitalization and death.

It has also been shown to pass on COVID-19 fighting antibodies to their children, without affecting their development.

The findings were published in the journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.