Stopping the misinformation: BNT16b2 COVID-19 vaccine has no negative effect on women's fertility

Abstract Objective To investigate the possible impact of Pfizer-BioNTech’s mRNA BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine on women’s fertility. Methods A retrospective single-center study examining women’s IVF treatment parameters and pregnancies before and after their vaccination between February and May 2021. Each woman served as a self-control before and after vaccination. Additionally, in order to neutralize the effect of the sperm on fertilization, only Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) patients who were currently being treated with an ICSI cycle and had an earlier ICSI cycle available were included in the study. The study outcomes compared between the PRE and POST vaccination groups and consisted of: the IVF cycle outcomes, including the number of oocytes retrieved; the number of matured oocytes; the fertilization rate; and the number and quality of embryos at day 3. Clinical pregnancy was based on the first hCG value reported if the data were available for both cycles. Results A final total of 47 women were eligible for inclusion with a mean interval of 362 ±368 days between the two ovum pick ups. The characteristics of their ICSI cycles before and after the vaccination were similar for all the parameters. Additionally, the number and percentage of clinical pregnancies did not significantly differ between the PRE and POST vaccination groups (n=15). Conclusion This study is the first to evaluate the impact of the BNT162b2 vaccine on women’s fertility. From our findings, the vaccine appears to have no impact on women’s fertility. This study is the first step in abolishing the misinformation derived from unreliable sources and reassuring patients in order to improve compliance and promote COVID-19 eradication.