In all of this, one of the most circulated claims on social media about the vaccines is that relating to fertility. Several social media users have shared messages regarding this with no particular source cited. Some of them have claimed that men and women who have the intention of getting pregnant in future should not take the vaccine as it may make them sterile and infertile.
Aside from these social media claims, other people have concerns on the safety of the vaccines in relation to fertility.
In this report, we find out what experts say about the vaccines and fertility in both men and women.
Will an approved COVID-19 vaccine make one infertile?
The general safety of approved COVID-19 vaccines has already been established by the WHO. The organization has indicated that “before receiving validation from WHO and national regulatory agencies, COVID-19 vaccines must undergo rigorous testing in clinical trials to prove that they meet internationally agreed benchmarks for safety and effectiveness.”
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine have indicated that it is scientifically unlikely for any of the approved vaccines to cause fertility loss in women.
“While fertility was not specifically studied in the clinical trials of the vaccine, no loss of fertility has been reported among trial participants or among the millions who have received the vaccines since their authorization, and no signs of infertility appeared in animal studies. Loss of fertility is scientifically unlikely,” the three organizations said in a joint statement.
Although the America Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stated that scientists are still studying the vaccines for side effects; there is currently no evidence that any vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines, cause fertility problems in humans.
Furthermore, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has also indicated that people do not need to delay getting pregnant after getting a dose of the vaccine as “there is no evidence that the COVID-19 vaccines cause infertility.”
According to another publication by University of Chicago School of Medicine, women can still go ahead and take the second dose of the vaccine even after finding out they are pregnant after the first dose. According to the publication, the “only possible risk physicians are currently aware of with the vaccine is the possibility of a fever following the second dose, a side effect experienced by around 10-15% of vaccine recipients.”
Is it safe for pregnant women to be Vaccinated?
Although pregnant women were excluded from the trials of all the approved COVID-19 vaccines even though the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists had insisted that they be included, studies have so far shown that the vaccines are safe for pregnant women.
Nonetheless, a publication by WebMD suggests that Pfizer, one of the pharmaceutical companies producing COVID-19 vaccines, is studying its two-dose vaccine in 4,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women to see how safe the effects of Covid-19 vaccines are. The report further says that the researchers will also look at how safe the vaccine is for infants and whether mothers pass along antibodies to children. Results of this study are expected to be ready by the end of year, according to the report.
On their website, Pfizer has also indicated that although there is evidence that a very short amino acid sequence in the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 that is partly shared with a protein in the placenta called syncytin-1 is likely to occur after getting a shot; Pfizer says it is scientifically unlikely for that process to cause infertility.
Is it safe for lactating Women to Be Vaccinated?
Yes. Experts at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists say it is safe for breastfeeding women to get the vaccine. According to them “there is no need to stop breastfeeding if you want to get a vaccine. After you get vaccinated, the antibodies made by your body can be passed through breastmilk and can help protect your child from the virus.”
While studies are still being done on the effects of COVID-19 Vaccines, reputable health agencies such as the CDC and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have indicated that none of the vaccines rolled out so far has been found to make men and women infertile.
2. What you need to know about the coronavirus right now
India fast-tracks approval for foreign vaccines
India is to fast-track emergency approvals for COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorised by Western countries and Japan, paving the way for possible imports of Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Novavax and Moderna shots.
The move, which will drop the need for companies to do small, local safety trials for their vaccines before seeking emergency approval, followed the world's biggest surge in cases in the country this month.
Vaccines authorised by the World Health Organization or authorities in Europe, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States "may be granted emergency use approval in India, mandating the requirement of post-approval parallel bridging clinical trial," the health ministry said.
Japan's Osaka reports record cases
Japan's western region of Osaka reported a record number of infections on Tuesday as a mutant strain of the virus fuelled a rebound in cases.
Osaka prefecture reported 1,099 daily infections, the most in the course of the pandemic.
The virus has hit Osaka, home to 8.8 million people, hard in recent weeks, prompting authorities to enforce targeted lockdown measures. Similar curbs were adopted in Tokyo on Monday following a rebound in the capital region.
Britain has offered all over-50s first shots
Britain has offered all over-50s a first dose of vaccine as the rollout of Moderna's shot in England began on Tuesday, the government said, adding it was on track to give a shot to all adults by the end of July.
Britain has seen one of the world's quickest vaccine rollouts, behind only Israel in the proportion of its population receiving at least one dose of a COVID-19 shot.
The government said it had offered at least one shot to priority cohorts 1 to 9, which include all adults over 50, the clinically vulnerable, and health and social care workers, ahead of a target to do so by Thursday.
Story continues
British variant not as severe as feared
A highly contagious variant of COVID-19 first identified in Britain does not cause more severe disease in hospitalised patients, a new study published in the medical journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases on Monday found.
The strain, known as B.1.1.7, was identified in Britain late last year and has become the most common strain in the United States, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
The study analysed a group of 496 COVID-19 patients who were admitted to British hospitals in November and December last year, comparing outcomes in patients infected with B.1.1.7 or other variants.
Pandemic 'a long way from over', WHO's Tedros says
Confusion and complacency in addressing COVID-19 means the pandemic is a long way from over, but it can be brought under control in months with proven public health measures, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.
So far some 780 million vaccines have been administered globally, but measures, including wearing masks and maintaining physical distancing, must be applied to reverse the trajectory.
"Right now, intensive care units in many countries are overflowing and people are dying – and it's totally avoidable," Tedros told a news briefing.
3. Centre asks Twitter to take down tweets sharing COVID-19 fake news: All you need to know
The government has asked Twitter to delete tweets spreading ‘fake news’ about the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Government sources told NDTV that the accounts were restricted for "circulating fake news, old photos, etc., and trying to mislead and create panic", and not because they were critical of the government's management of the crisis.
A Twitter spokesperson told NDTV that the action had been taken “in response to a legal request from the Government of India".
"We are tackling COVID-19 misinformation using a combination of product, technology, and human review - these critical efforts will continue to be a priority. In order for content related to COVID-19 to be labeled or removed under this policy, it must: Advance a claim of fact, expressed in definitive terms; Demonstrably false or misleading, based on widely available, authoritative sources; Likely to impact public safety or cause serious harm," the spokesperson said.
Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.
The account holders in question had been notified via email.
Technology policy news platform MediaNama reported that 52 tweets were censored. Some of the posts deleted were by Revanth Reddy, a Member of Parliament (MP); Moloy Ghatak, a West Bengal state minister; actor Vineet Kumar Singh; and two filmmakers, Vinod Kapri and Avinash Das were taken.
PTI reported on April 25 that Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms were asked to remove posts spreading misinformation and panic.
A tweet by Congress National Spokesperson Pawan Khera was also taken down.
Khera said he has sent a legal notice to Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Twitter for taking down his April 12 tweet about "double standards on Kumbh Mela and Tablighi Jamaat".
India has been reporting more than 3 lakh new COVID-19 cases a day since April 21, the highest single-day spikes recorded by any country. Social media has been flooded with people looking for hospital beds, medical oxygen, and essential medicines such as Remdesivir.
The government has received criticism for its handling of the pandemic, with many of the view that the Centre was unprepared for the second wave of COVID-19 cases.
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