Covid vaccine: Fertility and miscarriage claims wey we fact-check

Fake and misleading claims wey say Covid-19 vaccines dey harm fertility and cause miscarriages still dey circulate online, against all di evidence.

Doctors dey extra careful about wetin dem dey recommend inside pregnancy, so di original advice be say make pesin wey get belle no take di jab.

But now, so many safety data don dey available say dis advice don change and women dey encouraged to kollect di vaccine because di pregnancy fit dey at risk if dem catch Covid.

We don look some of di claims wey dey plenti past and why dem dey wrong.

One study say vaccine dey store for ovaries - Na lie

Dis theory come from one study wey dem no read wella wey sabi pipo submit to di Japanese regulator.

Di study involve to give rat vaccine dose wey plenti pass human being own (1,333 times higher).

Only 0.1% of di total dose enter inside di rat ovaries, 48 hours after injection.

Far more - 53% after one hour and 25% after 48 hours - enter go di injection site (for human, usually di arm). Di next most common place na di liver (16% after 48 hours), wey dey help to commot waste products from di blood.

Dem bin deliver di vaccine inside one bubble of fat wey contain di virus genetic material, wey kick-start di body immune system.

And di pipo wey dey promote dis claim just pick one figure wey dey actually about di concentration of fat wey dey inside di ovaries.

Fat levels inside di ovaries no increase inside 48 hours after di jab, as di vaccine contents move from di injection site around di bodi.

But di koko be say no evidence say e still get wetin dey cause di virus.

We no know wetin happen after 48 hours as that na di limit of di study, but we dey expect levels to fall back to zero.

Monitoring data show vaccine dey cause miscarriage - Na lie

Some posts don highlight miscarriage report to vaccine-monitoring schemes, plus di Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Yellow Card scheme for UK and di Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) for US.

Anyone fit report symptoms or health conditions wey dem experience after dem kollect di vaccine. No be everybodi go choose to report, so dis na self-selecting database.

E get some miscarriage report for dis database - dem be common events - but dis one no mean say na di jab cause am.

One study don find data wey show di miscarriage rate among vaccinated pipo dey in line wit di rate expected in di general population - 12.5%.

Dr Victoria Male, wey be reproductive immunologist for Imperial College for London, say di reporting system dey very good for spotting side-effects from di vaccine wey dey normally rare for di general population - na so one specific type of blood clot bin dey linked in some rare cases to di AstraZeneca vaccine.

If you suddenly start to dey see unusual symptoms for pipo wey don take vaccine, e dey raise red flag.

Dem no too good at monitoring side-effect wey dey common in di population - like change to period, miscarriage and heart problem. Seeing them in di data no necessarily raise dis red flags because you go expect to see dem anyway, vaccine or not.

Na only if we start to get many more miscarriages than wetin we dey see for pipo wey no collect vaccine wey dis data go fit prompt investigation - and dat never be di case.

Some pipo don also share graphs wey show big rise for di overall number of pipo wey dey report their experience to dis scheme compare wit previous years, for oda vaccine and drugs.

Dem don use dis to show say di Covid vaccine dey less safe. But di rise no tell us dat one, wetin e show be say unknown number of di population dey vaccinated.

Vaccines fit attack di placenta - No evidence

One widely shared petition from Michael Yeadon, one scientific researcher wey make oda misleading statement about Covid, claim say di coronavirus spike protein wey dey inside Pfizer and Moderna vaccines dey similar to one protein wey dem dey call syncytin-1, wey dey involved in forming di placenta.

Im speculate say e fit cause antibodies against di virus to attack developing pregnancy, too.

Some experts believe say na dis be origin of di whole belief say Covid vaccines fit harm fertility.

In fact syncytin-1 and di coronavirus spike protein just dey about similar as any two random proteins - if di body dey dat easily confused, e fit risk to attack im own organ every time e catch infection and develop antibodies.

But now dem don gada evidence to help disprove im theory.

US fertility doctor Randy Morris, wey bin wan respond directly to di concern e don hear, begin monitor im patient wey dey undergo IVF treatment to see weda vaccination make any difference to their chance of a successful pregnancy.

Out of 143 pipo for Dr Morris study, wey don kollect vaccine, or never collect vaccine or don dey infected before, women, dey about equally likely to get successful embryo implantation and for di pregnancy to continue to term.

Di study dey small, but e add to large volume of oda evidence - and if to say di claim dey true, you go expect dat one to show up even inside study of dis size.

Dr Morris bin point out say pipo wey dey spread these fear never explain why dem believe say antibodies wey dem produce in response to di vaccine fit harm fertility but di same antibodies from natural infection no fit.

Di problem be say, as scientists dey rush to provide evidence to reassure pipo, by di time dem fit report their findings online pipo don move on to di next thing.

As Dr Morris explain say: "Di hallmark of conspiracy theory is as soon as e dey disproven, you move di goalpost."