Why are people worried about vaccines and fertility?

Body Stuff with Dr. Jen Gunter

TED

Health & Fitness

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 22 June 2022

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It’s no shock that how we communicate about vaccines matters. A LOT. For example, one of the reasons some people don’t want to get vaccinated against COVID19 is because of anti-vaccine propaganda that falsely links the vaccine with infertility. Unfortunately, these kinds of myths are part of the playbook that’s been employed by anti-vaccine propagandists for… well, pretty much as long as there have been vaccines. And while this kind of targeted misinformation was predictable, powers in charge failed to take that threat seriously, and misinformation has become rampant across our communities. In this episode, Dr. Jen reviews how vaccines are developed and how they are tested for safety, including reproductive safety—and suggests strategies to address vaccine misinformation if you encounter it in the wild. For the full text transcript visit: https://go.ted.com/BSTscript14

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ted Audio Collective
0:07.0	Imagine you're a doctor like me.
0:09.5	You've been seeing a patient for a few years.
0:12.0	You've got a rapport.
0:13.6	She comes back to see you regularly because you've helped her.
0:16.9	And so, when you notice in the medical record that she hasn't been vaccinated against
0:21.7	COVID-19, you offer to get her vaccinated right now, free of charge.
0:27.7	And she says, no, you ask, can you tell me why?
0:33.8	And she says she's worried it will hurt her fertility.
0:39.0	And then it's not just one patient, it's quite a few.
0:43.6	And it's not just one doctor's office, it's in thousands all across the country.
0:50.1	I want to say this upfront, there is no evidence that vaccines affect fertility.
0:56.6	But for people who want to have a baby, false messages about fertility can be really powerful,
1:03.0	particularly when they come from wellness influencers on social media, including some
1:08.6	doctors.
1:10.5	And with COVID-19, we've had unprecedented amounts of disinformation.
1:17.9	I'm Dr. Jen Gunter, and from the Ted Audio Collective, this is Body Stuff.
1:26.4	Today, we're talking about fertility misinformation, as a way to learn more about vaccine development
1:33.0	and testing.
1:34.8	And we're talking about the science of vaccines, because how well we communicate about the
1:39.5	science gives us the power to debunk anti-facts misinformation.
1:54.0	Jessica Melody Rivera is an infectious disease epidemiologist and a science communicator.
	...

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