Vaccination against coronavirus in Russia is not going at the pace that was expected. This is due to all sorts of fears associated with the vaccine and its consequences.
One of them is the fear that the coronavirus vaccine will cause infertility. They are afraid of this not only in Russia but also in other countries. We found out if there are grounds for concern.
Vaccines are often linked to infertility, although scientists have no evidence that any vaccine has ever made it impossible to conceive.
Most often, such concerns arise when it comes to the HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine, which protects against cervical cancer and a number of other diseases. Scientists say that infertility after this vaccination is nothing more than a myth. Vaccination against HPV in the world has been carried out for more than a year, and not even in the first decade, those who have been vaccinated have already had their own children, and no evidence has been obtained confirming that the vaccine somehow affects fertility and the ability to conceive. There is no such information about any other vaccine.
Where did the myth come from?
The first mention of the connection between vaccination against coronavirus and infertility appeared at the end of 2020. The rapid dissemination of this information began after a group of anti-vaccinators sent a letter to the European Medicines Agency, which handles the registration of drugs in the European Union, a letter indicating the similarity of the coronavirus spike protein, against which antibodies are produced after vaccination, with the syncytin-1 protein, important for the development of the placenta.
The authors of the letter expressed concern that the resulting antibodies would affect the production of syncytin-1 or interfere with its work, which means that after vaccination, a miscarriage or inability to become pregnant is likely. The letter was about the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine.
But what really?
A comparison of the sequences of the spike-shaped S-protein, the same one that is responsible for the penetration of the virus into cells, and the sequence of this syncytin-1, which is important for the placenta, showed that although there is a similarity, it is insignificant, and therefore it is expected that antibodies against the spike protein will begin suddenly attacking a defenseless syncytin-1 is not worth it.
Although no data has been obtained indicating that vaccination against covid can cause the formation of antibodies to syncytin-1, this false information began to spread rapidly in the press and social networks. It is estimated that in the shortest possible time, the interest in the query “infertility AND COVID vaccine” (“infertility and a vaccine against covid”) in Google increased by as much as 34,900%. Yes, we did not make a mistake in the numbers and did not forget to put a comma.
The results of a study conducted by RANEPA experts, the National Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of Human Potential, and the Yandex. Q service indicate that fakes about the impact of the coronavirus vaccine on health, including its ability to cause infertility, have become one of the most common – they were found in 39%. The second place in popularity (23%) was occupied by myths about folk methods of treating coronavirus – their authors offered to treat covid with vodka, ginger, and other drugs with dubious effectiveness.
What’s the statistic?
Despite the fact that there are no long-term studies of a vaccine against coronavirus, and mass vaccination around the world has been going on for less than a year, there is no reason to assume that the vaccine causes infertility or in any way affects an already established pregnancy.
Millions of people around the world have been vaccinated with various vaccines, including women who became pregnant after vaccination or were vaccinated during pregnancy. No cases of infertility or miscarriage have been reported so far.
In Russia, pregnant women are not yet vaccinated against coronavirus, but they are considering such a possibility and do not exclude that vaccination of pregnant women will soon be allowed. In the United States and the United Kingdom, pregnant women have already been allowed to be vaccinated, it is believed that the potential side effects of the vaccine are much less dangerous than the consequences of coronavirus infection, when the life of both mother and child may be at risk. Among the consequences of a severe course of covid in pregnant women are premature birth, the birth of a dead child, and a threat to the life of the mother.
Coronavirus vaccination also does not affect men and the quality of their sperm: it is much easier to check, and scientists have already studied this issue. But the disease itself can have an impact on men’s health: some studies have shown that coronavirus infection causes inflammation in the testicles, which, in turn, does not have the best effect on sperm quality.
Elena Uvarova, chief gynecologist of children and youth at the Ministry of Health, said that infertility in men who had recovered from COVID-19 cannot be ruled out. She cited data that indicate that the quality of sperm after suffering covid is reduced by 38%. In general, grafting, according to scientists and doctors, is much better than getting sick.
