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As more and more people in the United States are able to get vaccinated against COVID-19, vaccines do not appear to have a “significant impact” on fertility, according to Dr. Jennifer Ashton, chief medical editor from ABC News and OBGYN certified by the Board of Directors. .
The myth that COVID-19 vaccines can negatively impact fertility has been spread widely on social media, according to Ashton.
In the United States, more women than men are concerned about the safety and possible side effects of COVID-19 vaccines, according to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a nonprofit focused on health issues. About 13% of respondents to the KFF survey, conducted in January, said they believed or weren’t sure COVID-19 vaccines caused infertility.
“This myth about the cause of infertility, if that were the case, we would see a lot of miscarriages in women who have been naturally infected with COVID,” Ashton said Wednesday on “Good Morning America”. “In the field of OBGYN, [there is] really no basis for any of this at this point. “
MORE: What Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women Should Know About COVID-19 Vaccines
Pfizer and BioNTech became the first to evaluate their COVID-19 vaccine in pregnant women when they announced a new trial last week.
Their vaccine, along with Moderna’s, are the two mRNA vaccines currently available in the United States after obtaining emergency use clearance from the Food and Drug Administration.
MRNA technology does not enter the nucleus of cells or alter human DNA. Instead, it sends out a genetic instruction manual that prompts cells to create proteins for the body to learn and develop defenses against future infection.
These are the first mRNA vaccines, which are theoretically safe during pregnancy because they do not contain live virus.
Moderna has yet to publicly release a schedule to include pregnant women in clinical trials.
Since pregnant women have not been actively included in advanced clinical trials for vaccines, there is no real data to date on the impact of COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy.
About 20,000 women got pregnant at some point while they were vaccinated, according to Ashton, who added: “There have been no unwanted side effects or safety signals in this group.”
“Some published studies suggest that pregnant women are likely to transfer antibodies to protect their fetus,” Ashton said. “Certainly we have seen this in women who have been naturally infected and the hope is that we will see it in women vaccinated as well.”
The question of whether a pregnant woman should receive a COVID-19 vaccine will ultimately come down to a number of factors, including everything related to the trimester, the risk factors for COVID-19, the ability to stay socially left behind in her lifestyle and profession, advice from federal and state officials and recommendations from the woman’s own doctors, experts say.
Like the influenza vaccine, which has not been tested on pregnant women in clinical trials, health experts will need to rely on continuously received data to make decisions about the safety of COVID- vaccines. 19 during pregnancy.
“When the FDA granted the clearance, they had about two months of long-term data. Now it’s about four months,” Ashton said. “They continue to follow women, including women who got pregnant after being enrolled in clinical trials, and they will follow him for two years, so this is something that will continue.”
MORE: What Women Need to Know About Mammograms, COVID-19 Vaccine
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently updated its guidelines recently to say that pregnant women at high risk of exposure to COVID-19 and those at risk of serious illness should be vaccinated.
“While pregnancy puts women at a higher risk of severe COVID-19, very little data is available to assess the safety of vaccines during pregnancy,” the WHO said in a statement. “Nonetheless, based on what we know about this type of vaccine, we have no specific reason to believe that there will be any specific risks that outweigh the benefits of the vaccination for pregnant women. For this reason, pregnant women at high risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 (eg health workers) or who have co-morbidities that increase their risk of serious illness, may be vaccinated in consultation with their health care provider. health. “
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The CDC says women who are pregnant and breastfeeding “may choose to be vaccinated” and should speak with their health care provider, noting that breastfeeding is an important consideration but “is rarely a safety issue with women. vaccines. “
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), a professional membership organization for OB-GYN, says pregnant and breastfeeding women should have access to the vaccine when they are eligible, according to criteria from the CDC Advisory Committee on immunization practices. (ACIP).
Likewise, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) recommends that pregnant women have access to vaccines and states that pregnant women should “participate in shared decision-making” about the vaccine with their doctors.
“In general, SMFM strongly recommends that pregnant women have access to COVID-19 vaccines in all phases of future immunization campaigns, and that she and her healthcare professional participate in shared decision-making regarding her receipt of the vaccine. . … mRNA vaccines, which are probably the first vaccines available, do not contain live virus but rather induce a humoral and cellular immune response through the use of viral mRNA, ”the company said in its statement. “Healthcare professionals should also advise their patients that the theoretical risk of fetal harm from mRNA vaccines is very low.
COVID-19 vaccines are not believed to have an impact on fertility, says expert, originally who appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
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