Study Shows Fertility Unaffected By COVID-19 Vaccine

A new study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the latest to show that there is no connection between COVID-19 vaccines and infertility in either women or men.

The study which was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology and funded by the NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development found “no adverse association” between getting vaccinated against COVID-19 and fertility in 2,000 couples in the United States and Canada.

There was evidence, however, that being infected with COVID-19 can temporarily suppress a man’s fertility.

Concerns about infertility have made many reluctant to get the COVID-19 vaccination, however, the NIH study isn’t the first to find that fertility is unaffected by the shots.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study published on Jan. 4 showed there was no increased risk of preterm or low-weight births from pregnant women who got a COVID-19 vaccine, nor was there any evidence of an increased risk of miscarriage in vaccinated women.

Additionally, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine both urge all pregnant women to get vaccinated, as does the World Health Organization.

A study published Jan. 13 in Nature Medicine found that unvaccinated pregnant women who contracted COVID-19 were more likely to have a preterm birth or pregnancy loss.

“The findings provide reassurance that vaccination for couples seeking pregnancy does not appear to impair fertility,” said Dr. Diana Bianchi, director of the NIH’s National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. “They also provide information for physicians who counsel patients hoping to conceive.”