new York – Equally widespread misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and infertility have spread on social media, rumors have spread as fast as the virus itself and scared some women from being shot.
Jay Huber, a fertility doctor in New Orleans, is asked daily by his patients if vaccine causes infertility. He said there was no evidence that this was happening.
“I think it’s important to debate myths, because patients should have access to the right information,” Huber told CBS News.
So what’s the biggest misconception?
This concept that vaccination will train the human immune system to create an antibody that reacts cross-linked with the vital protein of the placenta, which would eventually cause infertility, he said.
The unfounded fear, Huber said, is that an antibody will attack not only the virus but also the placenta.
Stacey Clarke, a 36-year-old nurse, is receiving fertility treatments from Huber. It is feared that the vaccine may somehow affect her ability to become pregnant.
“It’s too early to put something foreign in my body, going through what I’m going through,” she said. “There’s a lot of emotion. Because I’ve done this twice before and it hasn’t been successful.”
Clarke said the thought of becoming infertile crossed her mind, but Huber reassured her.
“He, of course, feels very much that there is enough evidence to get the vaccine,” she said of their talks. “So we have reached an agreement so far.”
Clarke said many of her female colleagues share those fears.
“We have the same feeling about the vaccine … We just don’t know the long-term effects on us or the fetus,” she said.
Huber addressed the issue: “I don’t think reproductive women should be worried about their future fertility if they get this COVID-19 vaccine. The data we have so far is that the vaccine is very safe. “
Clarke said he didn’t think there was anything to change his mind about the vaccine. Not even this warning story from 35-year-old Anna Almendrala. He became ill with COVID after fertility treatment.
In a video, she can be seen lying down, panting for air.
“The scary thing is that things can change at some point with this virus,” she said.
A few days later, she was in the hospital, writing a farewell letter to her daughter.
When asked what she would say to women who don’t want the vaccine at all, Almendrala mentioned how prevalent COVID is in the US.
“I would say that right now … with the virus so widespread, whether you choose between taking the vaccine or taking COVID,” she said.
Almadrala said she was relieved by the existence of a vaccine and would gladly take it – when it was her turn.
“I think what this experience has really shown us is that we already have so much to recognize,” she said. “I almost felt like I was a few days away from losing everything.”
Read more of our CBS news series “Women and the Pandemic” below: