False claims tying coronavirus vaccines to infertility drive doubts among women of childbearing age

A Kaiser Family Foundation survey conducted in mid-January found that women are more likely than men to decline COVID-19 vaccines, in particular because they are concerned about long-term adverse effects. Nearly three-quarters of women said they were very or somewhat concerned, according to the survey. It also found that roughly 12% of respondents said they had heard unfounded claims that the vaccine causes infertility, and either believe those claims or are unsure if they are true. About 40% of respondents said they would get vaccinated as soon as they were able, up from 34% in December. The World Health Organization advises that pregnant women who are at a high risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 or of having a severe case should get the vaccine, while CDC says women should make decisions in consultation with their physicians. False claims about the messenger RNA used to make the coronavirus vaccine include that it triggers the immune system to attack a protein in the placenta known as syncytin-1, whose structure is said to be similar to that of the coronavirus spike protein. Yale School of Medicine immunologist Akiko Iwasaki, PhD, says: “I even had people from the medical community reaching out to ask if there’s any validity to this claim.” Iwasaki and her team compared the coronavirus spike protein and syncytin-1, finding “very, very little overlap.” When examining the spike protein’s reactivity with syncytin-1, they found none.