If you clicked on this story, chances are you are among the growing number of people looking for answers about whether the coronavirus vaccine is safe for pregnant people, or misinformation circulating online suggesting that the vaccine can even cause infertility.
Canadian doctors say they’ve seen these kinds of questions rise since the vaccines were approved.
And the Google search data seems to back it up.
Over the past two weeks, the number of people searching for phrases like ‘Pfizer vaccine pregnancy’, ‘COVID vaccine pregnancy’ and ‘coronavirus vaccine infertility’ has skyrocketed worldwide, overlapping with vaccine approvals and early rollout in the UK Canada. and the USA.
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At the same time, the fact that the vaccine has not been tested on pregnant or lactating individuals – a common and increasingly criticized medical research problem in its own right – means that doctors try to guide patients in weighing up potential risks and known risks. while also fighting disinformation.
“During the pandemic, there has been a bit of a mixed message for so many things. We learn so many new things at lightning speed, and things change every day, ”said Dr. Darine El-Chaâr, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Ottawa Hospital and clinical scientist at the Ottawa Health Research Institute.
El-Chaâr, who specializes in high-risk pregnancies and is currently leading a provincial investigation into the transmission of COVID-19 between giving birth and their babies, says the decision to exclude pregnant and breastfeeding women from the vaccine studies, has real implications.
“They were excluded. That’s why we don’t have enough information and safety data to advise women about the risk, and that’s where we are now, ”she said.
“The main problems are that primary care workers – who care for many of the pandemic-affected patients – many of them are women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. So they make up a pretty large majority of the workforce and they definitely want the vaccine. “
According to the product monograph for the Pfizer vaccine, “The safety and efficacy of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in pregnant women has not yet been established.
“It is not known whether the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is excreted in human milk. A risk to the newborns / infants cannot be excluded. “
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That has led to two significantly different approaches in countries that have approved the vaccine.
The UK advises against offering the vaccine to people who are pregnant, breastfeeding or who could become pregnant within three months of their first dose, while Canada and the US take a different position.
Pregnant and breastfeeding people can still receive the vaccine, but should do so in consultation with their healthcare provider after weighing up their personal exposure risks and fully aware that the vaccine has not been tested on their target population.
Public health officials say anyone who gets the vaccine should avoid getting pregnant within two months of the last dose.
“At the end of the day, it allows women to make decisions about their bodies,” says Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist recently appointed to the Ontario vaccine distribution task force.
“I think it is challenging to make general statements for all pregnant women because it is clear that what is right for one person may not be right for another … I think that is the right approach.”
READ MORE: In the absence of care for women, nearly 1 million unplanned pregnancies could occur worldwide
El-Chaâr added that an important part of that conversation is the fact that while there is as yet no clinical data on how this particular vaccine affects pregnant people, there is very clear evidence of the significant risks these individuals face if they take COVID- 19 during their pregnancies.
“We know the results are more serious.”
Can the coronavirus vaccine cause infertility?
Experts were also clear about what they think of unattributed, unsourced posts circulating on social media claiming the Pfizer vaccine will cause infertility – a claim that even Facebook, often accused of facilitating the easy spread of incorrect health information, has since been identified as incorrect.
At first glance, the misinformation shows a seemingly simple story.
“The vaccine contains a peak protein (pictured) called syncytin-1, essential for human placenta formation in women,” the fake post claims.
“When the vaccine works so that we form an immune response AGAINST the spike protein, we also train the female body to attack syncytin-1, which can lead to indefinite infertility.”
However, scientists say there is no basis for that claim.
READ MORE: Misinformation is spreading just as fast as the coronavirus. It “takes a village” to fight it
Syncytin-1 is a protein involved in placental development in mammals.
According to Kyle Anderson, assistant professor of biochemistry, microbiology and immunology at the University of Saskatchewan, the gene containing the protein first emerged in mammals millions of years ago and is actually the result of an ancient virus that integrated into mammalian DNA. .
The spike protein on the coronavirus is a separate protein, and while there are some similarities between some of its amino acids and those in the syncytin 1 protein, those similarities are minimal.
“The idea that our bodies will recognize Sars-CoV-2 spike protein and cause antibodies to destroy a woman’s placenta is about as realistic as the fact that I can’t distinguish between holding the hand of a woman. my son and a chicken’s foot, ”said Anderson.
“Yes, they share the same evolutionary origins, but that’s pointless when it comes to our innate ability to tell them apart.”
Roderick Slavcev, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Waterloo, gave a similar answer, stressing that “no significant similarity has been found between the two proteins, so there is no plausible reason for any cross-reactivity of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. cross-react and build an immune response against Syncytin-1.
El-Chaâr also said there is no basis for the claim, saying it is important for health care providers to have honest, candid discussions with their patients about the information circulating about the vaccine.
“That can certainly be a challenge these days, as the pandemic is 10 months later, and then there is so much new information to learn as providers. I can see that tiredness for sure, ”she said. “But there really is no other option right now to continue to care for our patients and provide those answers.“
With files from Global’s Rachael D’Amore.
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