Fake News: Pfizer vaccine causes infertility in women
An article titled “Head of Pfizer Research: Covid Vaccine is Female Sterilization” recently started being shared on sites like Facebook and Twitter (December 2020). The post originated from a blog “Health and Money News”, but the website has since been removed. However, this headline continues to circulate through social media. The article had claimed that “the vaccine contains a protein called syncytin-1 which is essential for the forming of a woman’s placenta. If the vaccine works so that we form an immune response AGAINST the spike protein, we are also training the female body to attack syncytin-1, which could lead to infertility in women of an unspecified duration." Once I began researching, it became clear that this was yet another Covid conspiracy theory.
A Google search of the article title yielded multiple fact-checking websites marking this claim as false. The website the article originated from wrongly claimed Dr. Michael Yeadon as the head of research at Pfizer when in actuality, he left the company in 2011 (according to his LinkedIn). Dr. Yeadon has spread Covid-19 misinformation more than once, as he also made a blog post stating that the pandemic was officially over in October of 2020. Pfizer's study did not mention anything about causing sterility in women, and no there is no study that has proven that the vaccine has any effect on fertility. An analysis of Phase 3 of Covid vaccine trials showed that they were 95% effective in preventing infections and imposed no safety concerns. This 95% efficacy was even better than the company’s initial claim, which had been 90%. (CNN.com). In response to the claim that the vaccine causes infertility, Tarun Jain, MD, reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Northwestern Medicine responds “There is no credible evidence that shows a link between vaccines and infertility, and there is no plausible mechanism of action that would link vaccines with infertility. This is a common fear and misconception that is out there…[the] benefits of getting the COVID-19 vaccine outweigh any risk.”
In addition to this, there have been successful pregnancies from women who have been administered the vaccine. According to an article from Nebraska Medicine, “Twenty-three women became pregnant after participating in Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine clinical trial.” I then decided to look into the claim about the vaccine containing a certain spike-protein that would cause a reaction and affect fertility. It turns out that the spike-protein that could cause infertility and the protein in the Covid vaccine are similar, but not the same. They share a set of amino acids, but according to Duke University immunologist Dr. Stephanie Langel, the two proteins have “almost nothing in common, making the vaccine highly unlikely to trigger a reaction.”
As you can see, it is very easy to fabricate a news article and create controversy on the internet. Although social media is a great tool to utilize when looking for news, it is very important that you are getting your news from reliable sources. Fact-checking is an important thing to do while on the internet, especially if you plan on sharing informational posts. With just a simple search, you can make sure that what you’re reading, and sharing is the real deal.
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