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Social media platforms were flooded this week with concerns about an alarming headline claiming that Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine, which is expected to be approved for emergency use this week, could cause infertility in women. But experts say these claims are unfounded.
“It’s a myth, it’s inaccurate, there’s no evidence to support its perception,” said Saad Omer, a vaccine expert at Yale University. The expert agencies that oversee the approval of vaccines for use in people, he added, “have a rigorous process” to remove products that could cause such disastrous effects. “And when things happen, action is taken,” Dr. Omer said.
This week, the Food and Drug Administration reiterated its confidence in data showing that the vaccine can protect people against developing Covid-19 without causing serious side effects. Pfizer’s vaccine has received the green light in Britain and Canada.
Rumors about infertility were fueled by an article published by a blog called Health and Money News, which falsely claimed that the Pfizer vaccine contained ingredients capable of “training the female body to attack” a protein that plays a crucial role in development. of the placenta. .
The unsubstantiated claims were drawn from a petition co-written by Dr. Michael Yeadon, a retired British physician and former Pfizer employee who has previously been criticized for his misleading views on the coronavirus. Dr Yeadon has downplayed the severity of the pandemic in Britain and publicly voiced his complaints about the futility of investing in vaccines.
But experts say there is no evidence to support the infertility claim.
The key ingredient in Pfizer’s vaccine (as well as a similar vaccine made by Moderna that is also rapidly on the way to emergency clearance) is the genetic material that instructs human cells to produce a coronavirus protein called a pico. The production of this protein teaches the body to fight the coronavirus. There are no placental proteins, or genetic material that instructs the manufacture of placental proteins, in Pfizer’s vaccine, said a company spokeswoman, Jerica Pitts.
The misleading blog article made a comparison between the coronavirus spike and a type of placental protein. The similarities were strong enough, he said, that a vaccine could trick the immune system into confusing the two proteins and attacking the placenta.
But Stephanie Langel, an immunologist and expert in maternal and neonatal immunity at Duke University, noted that the coronavirus spike and the placental protein in question have almost nothing in common, so the vaccine is highly unlikely to trigger a reaction. in these delicate fabrics. The two proteins share only a tiny stretch of material; Mixing them up would be like mistaking a rhino for a jaguar because they wear the same necklace.
Dr. Langel also pointed out that the human body has evolved to quell immune reactions that could damage its own tissues.
“If we didn’t have that, we wouldn’t even make it through the first day of life,” he said.
Pfizer pointed to a recent study that found that the coronavirus did not appear to increase the risk of pregnancy-related problems.
“There is no data to suggest that the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine candidate causes infertility,” the company said in an emailed statement.
Both Dr. Langel and Dr. Omer noted that the researchers would continue to monitor the well-being of vaccinated individuals as Pfizer and other products are rolled out around the world. There is still a data shortage on people who are pregnant, said Dr. Langel. But unfounded discussions about how vaccines can cause infertility, he added, were “particularly damaging” to scientifically backed efforts to protect people with vaccines.
