Misinformation on Covid-19 and infertility

In this blog post, I wanted to address the recent misinformation that Covid-19 vaccines could cause infertility among women. My Google search was ‘Covid vaccine causing infertility’. I found myself scrolling through pages and pages of articles saying this was a false statement before I was able to find some misinformation. My search for misinformation was challenging since Google has a team of experts finding misinformation (Google’s Approach to Fighting Misinformation Online - Google Safety Centre, n.d.). I decided to search on X (formally Twitter) instead. I was able to find one quote that received a lot of attention. An account named Project Veritas tweeted that it was breaking news that Pfizer was affecting women’s reproductive health. The post received over 79k likes and 37k reposts. 

I then proceeded to search the scientific literature to see if there was scientific evidence that Covid vaccines influenced fertility. A systematic review conducted by Zaçe et al. (2022) reported that out of the 29 studies selected for the review, none found a relation between vaccinations and fertility. Chen & al., (2021) also illustrated the absence of infertility problems after covid vaccination in a review. Numerous other credible sources stated the inaccuracy of the myth.

For this example of misinformation, misinformation must stay limited on popular platforms. Social media platforms do play a vital role when it comes to removing misinformation from their platforms. However, it can remain challenging as whenever misinformation is removed, those communicating the misinformation quickly regroup in another way (Ohlheiser, 2023). Healthcare professionals also play a vital part in promoting accurate information. Their role was to stay informed on the most recent research and recommendations during these times of uncertainty (Schaler & Wingfield, 2021). 

Reference

Chen, F., Zhu, S., Dai, Z., Hao, L., Luan, C., Guo, Q., Meng, C., & Zhang, Y. (2021). Effects of COVID-19 and mRNA vaccines on human fertility. Human Reproduction, 37(1), 5–13. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deab238

Google’s approach to fighting misinformation online - Google Safety Centre. (n.d.). https://safety.google/intl/en_uk/stories/fighting-misinformation-online/

Ohlheiser, A. (2023, September 16). How Covid-19 vaccine misinformation stayed one step ahead of Facebook. Vox. https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/9/16/23875579/facebook-meta-vaccine-covid-19-misinformation-study

Project Veritas on X: “BREAKING: @Pfizer Director Concerned Over Women’s Reproductive Heath After COVID-19 Vaccinations  ”There is something irregular about their menstrual cycles. . .concerning. . .The vaccine shouldn’t be interfering with that. . .It has to be affecting something hormonal. . ."  #Pfertility https://t.co/XAuMPJNShD" / X. (n.d.). X (Formerly Twitter). https://twitter.com/Project_Veritas/status/1621274788734943233

Schaler, L., & Wingfield, M. (2021). COVID-19 vaccine — can it affect fertility? Irish Journal of Medical Science (1971 -), 191(5), 2185–2187. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-021-02807-9

Zaçe, D., Gatta, E., Petrella, L., & Di Pietro, M. L. (2022). The impact of COVID-19 vaccines on fertility-A systematic review and meta-analysis. Vaccine, 40(42), 6023–6034. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.09.019