Many people who are eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccines have chosen not to get vaccinated, despite that fact that these vaccines are effective in preventing severe illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19. This is often due to concerns about possible side effects, many of which are simply not true. A false report emerged on social media claiming that getting vaccinated against COVID-19 can cause infertility in women. This is a myth. The truth is that COVID-19 vaccines do not affect fertility.
The National Institutes of Health conducted a study of 2,000 couples that found no evidence that these vaccines cause fertility problems. They included vaccinated and unvaccinated couples and found no difference in the chances of conception if either partner had been vaccinated compared with unvaccinated couples.
Many people have become pregnant after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, including some who were vaccinated during the original vaccine clinical trials. No loss of fertility has been reporting among trial participants or the among the millions who have been vaccinated since the authorization of the vaccines. COVID vaccines continue to undergo the most intense safety monitoring in U.S. history and more data continues to be collected that show that the vaccines are safe and effective for use before and during pregnancy.
In fact, COVID-19 vaccines can provide benefits to pregnant women and their babies. If a pregnant person gets vaccinated against COVID, the antibodies from that vaccine start passing through to the baby while it is in the womb and through breastmilk when breastfeeding.
This gives the baby some protection against COVID-19, for a period of time after birth before the baby is able to get its own vaccinations that are standard. Getting COVID while pregnant can be dangerous. COVID-19 can increase the risk of preterm labor and stillbirth, threatening the developing baby, as well as increase the risk for hypertension and pneumonia among pregnant women. Vaccination against COVID is recommended by doctors for couples attempting to conceive or who are pregnant.
