Israeli Study Shows COVID Vaccine Does Not Affect IVF Success Rates

The Sheba Medical Center in Israel has conducted a study related to the COVID-19 vaccine and its results were published on Thursday in the peer-reviewed Fertility and Sterility medical journal. According to the results, there is no negative impact of the mRNA coronavirus vaccines on one of the primary practices of IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization) i.e. frozen-thawed embryo transfer. Almost 672 embryo transfers had been analyzed by the researchers in a group of 428 women. These women had undergone IVF treatment and were up to the age of 38. Approximately 141 women from the group had either recovered from the coronavirus, or had been inoculated with two mRNA vaccines. 

Ultimately, the researchers did not see any difference in the rate of pregnancy in women belonging to the unvaccinated and vaccinated test groups. The director of the Infertility and IVF Institute of Sheba Medical Center, Prof. Raoul Orvieto stated that one of the primary concerns of women all over the world who were of childbearing age was that the coronavirus vaccines that had been introduced could have a negative impact on their IVF treatments. He added that a number of concerned women and mothers had approached them with the same issue. 

The potential side effects had resulted in vaccine hesitancy and this stood in the way of achieving universal rates of vaccination, even though a number of people have gotten their shots globally. Some side effects of the vaccine were reported, but they were not very severe. These included cold symptoms to some severe issues. For instance, a study was published in January by the National Institute of Health (NIH), which showed that some women had experienced menstrual cycles that lasted a full day longer after they had received a vaccine dose. However, there have also been some other studies that have proven the efficacy and the safety of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.

One study was published in May 2021 in the medical journal named Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology and it showed that there wasn’t any difference between embryological variables and ovarian stimulation during IVF cycles that were carried out before and after administering the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Another study was published in the previous month in the medical journal named Human Reproduction. This study found that women’s ovarian reserve were not affected negatively because of the vaccines within three months of it being administered. Orvieto concluded that the groundbreaking Israeli study proved that the coronavirus vaccine does not have any impact on the chances of a woman getting pregnant via the FET method.

Sheba Medical Center is the largest hospital and medical center in Israel. In 2021, it was listed as the 10th best hospital all over the world by Newsweek. However, it had been on the 9th spot back in 2020. Regardless, both positions meant that Sheba is the highest-ranked hospital in the country. This latest study is certainly reassuring for a lot of women globally who have been concerned about their fertility after deciding to get the coronavirus vaccine.