Invited Commentary: Vaccines and Fertility—Why Worry?

Abstract In a recent issue of the Journal, Wesselink et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2022;191(8):1383–1395) presented findings that indicate that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine does not cause any reduction in fertility in either men or women, while COVID-19 infection may reduce fertility temporarily among men. These are reassuring findings for those seeking pregnancy, as well as for clinicians and the public. There was no scientific reason to be concerned about effects of the COVID-19 vaccine on fertility, so some of the psychological, ethical, and historical reasons for concern are discussed. These include perceptions of risk around “unnatural,” unusual, or dreaded outcomes; vaccine resistance as part of a social and political identity; and the tendency for moral panics to occur around women’s reproductive capacity. On this and other topics, there is a broad need for reproductive health to be better incorporated into clinical trials, and for fertility research to advance in measurement and include a more diverse and global population.