A worried reader's e-mail launched this addition to the Star Tribune Editorial Board's "Our Best Shot" series addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.
A much-loved uncle resides in a rural Minnesota nursing home, the reader messaged. While almost all residents there have been immunized, only 70% of staff have gotten the shot. For maximum protection against the virus, everyone in the facility should be vaccinated. Yet the holdouts aren't budging. They're mainly young women who have heard the vaccine will make them infertile.
This misperception is indeed among the most stubborn and harmful rumors circulating about COVID-19 vaccines. Not only does this misinformation leave unvaccinated women at greater risk of this potentially life-threatening infection, the reader's e-mail illustrates how the broader community's health can be jeopardized. The vaccines are remarkably effective, but breakthrough infections can still occur — an alarming reality for the elderly and those with underlying health issues.
Questions about the COVID vaccine are best fielded by medical experts. For trustworthy information about fertility concerns, we enlisted Dr. Sarah Cross, medical director of M Health Fairview's The Birthplace, and an assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and women's health at the University of Minnesota Medical School.
Cross noted that fertility misinformation has historically swirled around other vaccines, particularly when they're introduced. But there's no scientific evidence that immunizations negatively affect a woman's ability to conceive or carry a child. "The data just isn't there for any of these vaccines, and it's not here for the COVID vaccine," Cross said.
More details from the interview with Cross, which is available below and on YouTube at bit.ly/3vKfTha, should further bolster confidence. Although the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are the first to employ mRNA technology, this new delivery platform has been under scientific scrutiny for well over a decade, with "no evidence from either in animal or human studies that it affects fertility," Cross said.
Additionally, while pregnant women were excluded from COVID vaccine clinical trials, some participants became pregnant. There was no difference in the pregnancy rate between those who got the shots vs. the placebo, Cross said.
Reports that some women have begun to menstruate soon after getting vaccinated also have prompted concerns. Correlation doesn't equal causation, so it's not clear if the vaccines were the trigger. But Cross noted that many factors can interfere with menstrual cycles, and some women may be more sensitive than others. Regardless, "Disregulating the menstrual cycle for one cycle is not going affect someone's long-term fertility," Cross said.
