The corona vaccination raises many questions and causes great uncertainty among pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and women who want to have children. Can pregnant women get vaccinated? Can vaccination affect fertility in women? We answer all important questions about the corona vaccination.
The distribution of the corona vaccines raises many questions. Pregnant women and women who want to have children in particular are unsure whether vaccination against Covid-19 is possible or advisable. Does the vaccine affect an embryo? And what about the assumption that the corona vaccination affects the fertility of future mothers? We answer all important questions about the corona vaccination.
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Should pregnant women be vaccinated against Corona? STIKO recommends vaccination
For a long time, the Standing Vaccination Committee (STIKO) of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) did not recommend general corona vaccination during pregnancy. “There is not yet enough experience with the use of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines during pregnancy and breastfeeding,” was the RKI’s official statement on the Covid-19 vaccination .
The STIKO has now changed its recommendation and is in favor of a Covid-19 vaccination of previously unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated pregnant women from the second trimester of pregnancy and of unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated breastfeeding women with two doses of an mRNA vaccine.
The STIKO previously said that vaccination is advisable in individual cases . For example, in pregnant women who have previous illnesses and are therefore at high risk of infection and a possible severe course of the disease. According to the Federal Ministry of Health, pregnant women and newborns do not belong to the particularly endangered risk group.
Eleven medical professional associations, including the Professional Association of Gynecologists e. V. (BVF) and the German Society for Gynecology and Obstetrics eV (DGGG), had previously spoken out in favor of a corona vaccination for pregnant and breastfeeding women with an mRNA-based vaccine. “The statements are based on a carefully coordinated consensus of experts and can change in a timely manner – insofar as new findings are published,” said a press release published at the end of January. Pregnant women should not be excluded from the vaccination program as a matter of principle. The DGGG emphasizes that “the decision to use the vaccine in pregnant women should be made in close consultation with a doctor, after weighing the individual benefits and risks.”
By the way: Other countries recommend vaccination for pregnant women. In Israel, expectant mothers have been vaccinated against Covid-19 since January. In Great Britain, Austria and France, pregnant women have also recently been vaccinated.
Corona disease: Dangerous for expectant mothers and children
The scientific data shows that Covid-19 disease during pregnancy can pose a serious risk to mother and child . Intensive care was required more often than in non-pregnant women.
The evaluation of the scientific data shows us that vaccination of all pregnant women would be extremely useful. Because the risk of premature birth alone is up to 80% higher for women who have tested positive for COVID-19 than for healthy pregnant women. There are also numerous other risks for the unvaccinated sick mother and her unborn child
says dr Anton J. Scharl, President of the German Society for Gynecology and Obstetrics (DGGG).
Pregnant women: no vaccination with AstraZeneca
In a February 8 supplement, the DGGG said it was less in favor of vaccination with the vector vaccine AstraZeneca . “The European Medicines Agency (EMA), like the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (RCOG) and the Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO), currently only recommends the use of this vaccine in pregnant women if, after individual consideration and information, the potential benefit for mother and mother is clear Feten outweighs the possible risks.”
Pregnant, vaccinated women pass on antibodies to the baby
Scientists from Harvard University and the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston have found in a study that the corona vaccination is “highly effective” in pregnant and breastfeeding women and leads to the formation of antibodies. In the study, the pregnant and non-pregnant and breastfeeding women were administered the mRNA vaccines Biontech or Moderna. The level of antibodies was the same in all three groups.
The scientists also detected antibodies in umbilical cord blood and breast milk samples. This means that unborn children get the antibodies either through the common bloodstream or later through breast milk.
Is the corona vaccination possible for breastfeeding mothers?
STIKO considers it unlikely that vaccination of the mother while breastfeeding poses a risk to the infant. The German Society for Perinatal Medicine (DGPM), the German Society for Gynecology and Obstetrics (DGGG) and the National Breastfeeding Commission (NSK)report online that, according to the current state of knowledge, the administration of non-live vaccines during breastfeeding does not increase the risk for the breastfeeding woman or the baby is to be expected. However, there are also no concrete data on the use of mRNA vaccines during breastfeeding. Therefore, the companies refer to the recommendation of the STIKO.
Important: Since a corona vaccination for expectant and breastfeeding mothers is decided individually according to their own benefit and risk, affected women should protect themselves as well as possible against infection with the corona virus. It is therefore all the more important to comply with distance and hygiene rules and to wear mouth and nose protection in public.
Corona vaccination for contact persons of pregnant women
Those who should definitely be vaccinated against the coronavirus are close contacts of pregnant women . This group of people belongs to the third vaccination group and therefore has a high vaccination priority. In order to receive the corona vaccination as a contact person, proof of pregnancy is required. Therefore, contact the responsible gynecologist in good time and, if possible, at the beginning of the pregnancy and have an informal certificate issued about the pregnancy. You can find an up-to-date overview of the vaccination sequence here .
Does the corona vaccination make you infertile?
Women who want to have children are currently unsettled because rumors about infertility due to the corona vaccination are circulating. This is clearly misinformation , based on the assumption that the placenta will be destroyed by the corona vaccine. Although the so-called syncytin-1 protein on the placenta is similar to the spike protein, the assertion that the immune system learns through vaccination to attack the spike protein and thus also the syncytin – and thus the placenta – is wrong.
Prof. Dr. Sandra Ciesek , chief virologist at the University Hospital Frankfurt/Main, commented on the Instagram account of NDR Info :
We have already had many infections with Sars-CoV-2 and there are no indications or reports that this would have led to infertility in women – because that is where the antibodies are also formed. And that would have to be noticed that all of them could no longer become pregnant. On the contrary, there are even women who have been reported to become pregnant after an infection or vaccination. So it’s extremely unlikely, or it really doesn’t make any medical sense – there is no medical evidence that this rumor is true and that fertility is affected by the vaccination and by the antibodies produced against the spike protein.
The Paul Ehrlich Institute for Vaccines also refutes this assumption and confirms that the corona vaccination cannot lead to impairment of female or male fertility. The institute refers to the thorough testing of the vaccines: “With this data situation, the best possible safety for the exclusion of damage to reproductive organs and impairment of reproduction in humans is guaranteed within the framework of drug approval.”
Other experts like Dr. Udo Markert and Prof. Dr. Ekkehard Schleußner from the children’s clinic at the Jena University Hospital refer to the IgG4 antibody, which was developed to treat various autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis or diabetes and is very similar to the syncytin-1 protein. Here, too, the IgG4 antibody had no effect on fertility or normal placenta development: “These widespread claims are therefore completely unfounded from the point of view of placenta research and reproductive medicine!”
Waiting after the Corona vaccination to get pregnant?
The European Society for Reproductive Medicine (ESHRE) initially recommended waiting two months after vaccination before pregnancy or fertility treatment due to the unclear data situation and the lack of experience with the corona vaccine. Now the leading German specialist societies have issued the recommendation that women only have a few days left after their second vaccinationshould wait to await possible vaccination reactions. Routine contraception is therefore not necessary. Because the corona vaccines are viruses that are no longer capable of reproduction or, in the case of the mRNA vaccines, blueprints for virus proteins – and there are waiting time recommendations for these. A waiting period makes sense when vaccinating with live vaccines that contain pathogens that are capable of replication but are weakened.
The first studies on so-called reproductive toxicity, i.e. the effects of vaccination on reproduction, are expected for the end of 2021.
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Many pregnant women are unsure and wonder whether the corona vaccination is advisable or even dangerous during pregnancy. That’s what the experts say.
STIKO does not issue any vaccination recommendations for pregnant women
Before a vaccine is approved, its effectiveness and tolerability are examined and tested in a multi-stage process. In these phases of the vaccination studies, pregnant women are generally excluded – this was also the case with the vaccine against the coronavirus. The Standing Vaccination Committee (STIKO) of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) therefore refers to this database, which does not make any general recommendations for corona vaccination during pregnancy:
There is still insufficient experience on the use of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines during pregnancy and breastfeeding. […] The STIKO currently does not recommend general vaccination during pregnancy. In individual cases, pregnant women with previous illnesses who are at high risk of a severe course of Covid-19 disease can be offered a vaccination after a benefit-risk assessment and after detailed information.
This is what it says in the official information sheet of the RKI . Whether a corona vaccination is therefore an option must be clarified individually with your gynaecologist.
Corona vaccination for pregnant women: preferably with mRNA vaccines
The German Society for Gynecology and Obstetrics (DGGG) , on the other hand, takes a different point of view, which does not rule out vaccination with the mRNA vaccines for pregnant women: “Pregnant women can vaccinate against SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 as part of informed, participatory decision-making be vaccinated,” says a press release. However, a general vaccination of all pregnant women is not advocated by the majority of all professional societies. “However, pregnant women should not be excluded from vaccination programs as a matter of principle.”
As the DGGG reported, “animal studies by the vaccine manufacturer Moderna show no adverse effects on female fertility, embryonic/foetal or postnatal development. Studies by Pfizer-BioNTech on this have not yet been completed.” It is also said that the possible side effects of the corona vaccination for pregnant women are the same as for non-pregnant women. The effectiveness of the vaccines is also the same and is not affected by pregnancy.
And what about the AstraZeneca vector vaccine ? Here, the DGGG only makes a vaccination recommendation “if, after individual consideration and information, the potential benefit for mother and fetus outweighs the possible risks.”
Gynecologists for corona vaccination during pregnancy
The Professional Association of Gynecologists (BVF) is also committed to vaccinating pregnant women against the corona virus, especially against the background of the more contagious Delta variant. The president of the association, Christian Albring, emphasizes the importance of effective vaccination protection during pregnancy and the time after the birth: “Especially since the now widespread delta variant is associated with a high level of infectivity and an increased rate of illness, even in pregnant women, according to international reports According to the gynecologists’ associations, vaccination before and during pregnancy, as well as during childbirth and breastfeeding, makes sense ,” Albring told the editorial network Germany ( RND) .
Close contacts should be vaccinated!
In summary, it can be said that pregnant women, depending on their living conditions and previous illnesses, must decide individually and together with their doctor whether a corona vaccination is advisable or not. In any case, it makes sense to seek advice from your gynecologist and to inform yourself accordingly. In order to protect pregnant women as best as possible from a corona infection, close contacts should definitely be vaccinated.
