COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) – The spread of misinformation about the coronavirus and the COVID-19 vaccine is still having an impact and causing vaccine hesitancy. With misinformation and real information both spreading on social media, some people are unsure what is true and what isn’t about the COVID-19 vaccine and its side effects.
One of these widespread myths is that the COVID-19 vaccine could cause infertility, a myth that Piedmont OBGYN Dr. Timothy Villegas said data disproves.
“All of everything that people now still fear about the vaccine causing problems with future fertility is not at all a true concern,” said Dr. Villegas. “And all of the data we have, of course we have hundreds of millions of doses of the vaccine that have been administered, and to date we are not aware of any impact on female fertility or male fertility for that matter.”
Dr. Villegas believes the myth started from a Facebook post that said a protein in the placental tissues in early developing pregnancies is similar to the COVID-19 spike protein that the vaccine is meant to produce antibodies against.
The post insinuates that if you received the COVID-19 vaccine, it would attack these antigen proteins found in early developing fetal tissues. Dr. Villegas said there is no data to this back up, but the post went viral before science could debunk it.
This has created a gray area for some people deciding whether the vaccine is right for them. However, Dr. Villegas said it is reassuring to him that more patients who fall in this gray area are coming to him with their questions and concerns about side effects or the COVID-19 vaccine in general.