Sometime in December 2020, prominent anti-vaccine campaigners started a buzz on social media, expressing concerns that the COVID-19 vaccine causes infertility in some women.
Our anchor, Adebayo Aare examined the claim that COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous to women reproductive health and could cause infertility. The origin of this claim can be traced to a December 1, 2020 letter sent by two European anti-vaccination activists to the European Medicines Agency claiming that the COVID-19 “vaccine contains a spike protein called syncytin-1 [that is] vital for the human placenta in women.” This claim generated controversy and topical discussions on social media after Sherri Tenpenny, a prominent anti-vaxxer claimed that the COVID-19 “can bind to the ovary” and that the vaccines are part of a plot by “the globalists and the de-population eugenicists, the stated Satanists who are out to destroy the world.”
By April 2021, the claim had spread further after prominent feminist author turn anti-vaccination activist, Naomi Wolf, posted a link to a Facebook group claiming “hundreds of women on this page say that they are having bleeding/clotting after vaccination, or that they bleed oddly AROUND vaccinated women. Unconfirmed, needs more investigation, but lots of reports.” We spoke with Dr. Akinyode, who is an epidemiologist throws more light on the claim that the Covid-19 vaccine causes infertility.
From our interview and rigorous research analyses from renowned medical organization, we arrived at our verdict for this week, press play to know our VERDICT on the viral claim.
The Production Team for this week’s episode are:
Olakunle Mohammed – Project Manager
Nicholas Ibekwe – Researcher and Assistant Producer
Oluwatosin Ologun – Producer
Adebayo Aare – Presenter
