Covid-19 vaccine not linked to reduced fertility, study of 60,000 women finds

A Swedish study of nearly 60,000 women has found no link between Covid-19 vaccination and reduced fertility or miscarriages. Researchers said declining birth rates during the pandemic were unlikely to be caused by vaccines and urged women planning pregnancy not to delay vaccination.

New Delhi: Amid several claims of vaccination and reduced fertility, a study of nearly 60,000 women showed that the Covid vaccine played no role in a decrease in childbirth.

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, unfounded rumours have circulated, especially on social media, alleging that vaccination impairs chances of becoming pregnant.

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In the later stages of the pandemic, there was a decrease in the number of children born in some countries, including Sweden. This raised the question of whether this could be due to the new vaccines.

“Our conclusion is that it’s highly unlikely that the mRNA vaccine against Covid-19 was behind the decrease in childbirth during the pandemic,” said Toomas Timpka, professor of social medicine at Linköping University, Sweden.

The study, published in the journal Communications Medicine, found no statistically significant difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated women in childbirths and miscarriages.

“We see no difference in childbirth rates between those who have taken the vaccine and those who haven’t. We’ve also looked at all registered miscarriages among those who became pregnant, and we see no difference between the groups there either,” Timpka said.

Their analysis is based on a study of almost 60,000 women aged 18 to 45 years in Sweden.

Of these women, 75 per cent were vaccinated once or more against Covid from 2021 to 2024. The researchers used data on childbirths, vaccinations, miscarriages, and deaths from health care records.

The results are in line with several previous studies that have not found any association between the Covid vaccine and fertility.

Importantly, the study examined conception and pregnancy in the general population, unlike most previous research, which “focused on couples undergoing fertility treatment.”

The researchers also adjusted their findings for factors other than Covid that could have affected conception rates, such as age and underlying illness.

Several studies have shown that Covid infection can be dangerous for pregnant women, but vaccination can reduce that risk substantially.

“Present scientific evidence is clear that the protection against severe disease a Covid-19 shot provides clearly outweighs possible risks,” Timpka said.

“Women who want to start a family and who are on the fence about whether to get a Covid-19 shot should not hesitate about having the vaccine,” Timpka added.