Covid Vaccine & Fertility: What's the Evidence So Far?

Is there a link between the Covid vaccine and fertility? With all the conflicting info out there, it can be difficult to tell. We’re here to help.
TTC can be tough—uncertainty, long waits, and often some very interesting sex schedules.

And now Covid has introduced an extra layer of confusion into the experience!

One specific question you might have is whether there is a link between the Covid vaccine and fertility.

We spoke with embryologist and fertility expert, Navya Muralidhar, so you can get the info you need about the effect of the Covid vaccine on fertility.

In this article: 📝

Can the Covid-19 vaccine affect fertility?

If you’re here for the quick answer—it’s safe for you to get an approved Covid vaccine if you’re TTC.

And not only is it safe, but it’s also recommended.

Right now, it’s one of our best defenses against this deadly virus.

Weighing up the options, it’s worth rolling up your sleeve.

But that doesn’t mean your trepidation is unwarranted.

In a world where, just a few years ago, our current reality seemed only the stuff of horror films, it’s completely understandable that you may feel uncertain right now.

About a lot of things.

There’s also a whole lot of contradictory information out there.

It’s hard to know what to trust.

Does Covid vaccine cause infertility?

The official word from the CDC is that there is no evidence that the Covid-19 vaccine will impact your fertility.

They, along with UNICEF, the NHS, and many other international governing bodies, recommend the Covid vaccine for all people who are pregnant or who want to get pregnant in the future.

There are three vaccines that are currently approved for emergency use by the FDA—Comirnaty (previously marketed as Pfizer BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccine), SpikeVax (previously marketed as the Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine), and the Janssen vaccine (also known as the Johnson & Johnson vaccine).

While the Janssen vaccine uses more traditional vaccine technology, Comirnaty and SpikeVax use mRNA technology.

MRNA vaccines do not put any of the Covid-19 virus into your body.

Rather, they produce a spike protein that teaches our bodies to trigger an immune response if it comes into contact with the virus.

Like boot camp to get our bodies in shape to tackle future infections.

All of these vaccines have the potential to produce mild side effects, such as fevers and chills, aches and pains, and fatigue.

In very rare cases, blood clots happen—an outcome that is being monitored very closely by the medical community.

But rumors that any of these vaccines impact fertility do not have any scientific basis.

Does the Covid-19 vaccine affect your menstrual cycle?

You might have also heard (or experienced) some changes to your menstrual cycle shortly after taking the Covid vaccine.

There are still studies being carried out about this, but early data suggests that there is just a “less than 1-day change in cycle length for both vaccine-dose cycles”.

The same study concluded that the Covid-19 vaccination “is associated with a small change in cycle length but not menses length”, and that “social media reports suggest menstrual disturbances are much more common but that these disturbances appear to be temporary”.

Can Covid-19 vaccines cause male fertility problems?

If you’re still unsure, that’s understandable.

A number of videos and blog posts have made the rounds with unsubstantiated claims about how the vaccine can affect sperm count and even damage the placenta.

It may please you to know that there is no evidence to back any of this.

Because mRNA doesn’t contain the live virus, it’s highly unlikely that it would have a bearing on sperm count and activity.

In this study, sperm parameters were not affected by two doses of an mRNA Covid vaccine.

Are there any long-term effects of Covid-19 vaccine?

And what about other effects of the vaccine? Are there reasons to be worried? How much do we know?

Well, the truth is, we don’t know for sure, quite simply because not enough time has passed.

Basically, there is no “long-term” just yet.

But there are a lot of reasons to be confident about both the safety and efficacy of the Covid vaccines in use.

We know from experience with other vaccines that the chance of severe long-term side effects is incredibly low.

When complications from vaccines have occurred in the past, they tend to show up within two months of vaccination.

If the Covid vaccine had any severe side effects, they would have reared their heads by now.

While the Covid vaccines are new, the technologies used to create them are not.

MRNA, for example, has been around since the 1960s.

This technology has been studied as a response to a range of illnesses, from influenza to Ebola, with human trials beginning back in 2006.

Recent advances in nanotechnology have allowed us to translate the mRNA message into a spike protein that can be injected into a muscle in our arms.

Luckily, these massive breakthroughs in technology happened in time for us to respond to this global pandemic.

Tireless research and effort have led us here, and teams of experts have dedicated their lives to cultivating this knowledge.

So while nothing is ever without its dangers, we can rest assured that the best minds are on it.

Does Covid impact fertility?

Covid-19 manifests differently in different people.

For some, it means mild illness.

For others, it means pneumonia.

And for others, it means organ failure.

While there are no specific studies on the link between Covid and fertility, keeping yourself as healthy as possible when you’re TTC is vital.

And if you’re pregnant, it’s best to do everything in your power to protect yourself from infection.

You are more vulnerable right now because your immune system is not at its peak.

If you get Covid-19, you might be at risk for more severe illness.

And contracting Covid-19 when you’re pregnant puts you more at risk for ICU admission and premature birth.

Should you get the Covid-19 vaccine if you are trying to get pregnant?

The bottom line?

The Covid vaccines have been approved for use in people who are both pregnant and TTC.

That’s not to dismiss any fears you have.

After all, it’s still your body, your choice, and your potential baby.

What we do know is that the risk of getting Covid-19 outweighs the risk of getting the vaccine.

Interestingly, there may be other threats to global fertility rates.

A global baby bust—the opposite of a baby boom—is projected.

But the reasons for this are not related to the virus itself.

Because of the uncertainty of the times, many women are postponing giving birth, while others are just not that into sex right now.

Also, over the course of the pandemic, fertility treatments have been put on hold for many couples.

The reality is, the pandemic is definitely not making this any easier. But the conversation doesn’t have to stop here.

Join us on Peanut so that we can navigate these big questions together.

We don’t have to do this alone.