False claims tying coronavirus vaccines to infertility drive doubts among women of childbearing age
Ariana Eunjung Cha, The Washington Post
Feb. 22, 2021
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Niharika Sathe, center, an internal medicine physician, is in her second trimester of pregnancy. She decided to get the coronavirus vaccine after investigating false reports that it was linked to fertility issues.Photo for The Washington Post by Rachel Wisniewski
Niharika Sathe, a 34-year-old internal medicine physician in New Jersey, first heard the fertility rumor from another doctor.
The friend confided that she would decline the coronavirus vaccine because of something she'd seen online - that the shot could cause the immune system to attack the placenta, potentially leading to miscarriage and infertility. Sathe, who was early in her pregnancy at the time but had not told anyone, spent the next few weeks scrutinizing information from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and calling trusted experts to investigate the report.