Coronavirus vaccine has no impact on fertility, Israeli study shows

The vaccine against the coronavirus, as well as the disease itself, does not alter female fertility, a recent study by a team from Hadassah-University Medical Center has shown.

The study, which researchers describe as the first of its kind, is currently in the process of peer-review and has been published on medRxiv, an online publication that features unpublished manuscripts in the clinical field.

Thirty-two women participated in the study, according to Dr. Anat Hershko, director of the IVF Unit at Hadassah Hospital’s Mount Scopus campus.

“About half of the study group did not turn to us because of personal infertility problems, but rather because they wanted to freeze their eggs or because their partner presents some male infertility issues,” said Hershko.

The participants were divided into three groups: those vaccinated, those who had recovered from the disease, and those who did not have any exposure to the virus.

The physicians studied the follicular fluid, which is aspired together with eggs over the course of the treatments the women needed to undergo.

“The fluid that we aspirate along with the egg is not required for the fertilization process,” said Hershko. “The egg comes out with some surrounding cells and a lot of fluid. This liquid is a very good source to study the environment of the egg, as it can be analyzed at the hormonal level and checked for certain proteins that according to medical literature are good indicators for the quality of the egg. So this is what we did.”

The researchers did not see any alteration of the fluids in women who were exposed to COVID-19.

“We were very happy to find that the vaccine did not harm in any way the performance of the follicle,” said Hershko. “In addition, we were able to track the antibodies against the virus. Every patient who had antibodies in the blood presented antibodies also in the fluid, which is important because this way we know that the ovarian environment is protected from the disease.”

Hershko was at a loss to explain why so many people are afraid that the coronavirus vaccine might negatively impact women’s fertility.

“I do not see any biological reason why people should be scared of it,” she said. “Perhaps in such a stressful era, people have fears related to one of the most existential parts of human life.”

Hershko said the preliminary study was conducted on a small sample, “however I’m very happy to be able to present these findings to my patients who come to me with these concerns. Before, they had their opinion and I had mine, but now, I can reassure them with real-world data.”