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Faizel Patel – 03/08/2021
Senior lecturer at the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology at Wits University says the COVID-19 vaccine does not affect a woman’s fertility.
Dr Neelaveni Padayache was speaking to Radio Islam about the myths surrounding the Coronavirus vaccine and those reluctant to take the jab.
While South Africa is doing all it can to get the population vaccinated to achieve herd immunity against the virus, the circulation of misinformation about vaccines poses the danger of hampering efforts to control the pandemic.
Dr Padayache says the myth of the vaccine affecting women’s fertility was sparked when a social media post was shared in December 2020 by Dr Wolfgang Wodarg, a physician and former chief scientist for allergy and respiratory therapy at Pfizer, and Dr Michael Yeadon, a pulmonologist.
She says the doctors claimed that the spike protein on the coronavirus was the same as the spike protein that is responsible for the growth and attachment of the placenta during pregnancy.
“So the fear came about that as a result of the vaccine, the immune system would not be able to differentiate between these two spike proteins and therefore would attack the placental protein. However, this is untrue because the overall makeup of that placental protein is very different from the Coronavirus spike protein. So, to dispel that myth we can be rest assured that the placental protein is very different from the Coronavirus spike protein.”
Dr Padayache says the COVID-19 vaccine does come with side effects.
“The side effects that we’ve been seeing and we are aware off based on clinical trials are very mild side effects. So you would encounter fever, sore arms, fatigue and these side effects will usually subside after one to three days.”
Dr Padayche says social media plays a huge role in propagating myths and conspiracy theories, adding that before people share any information, they should ensure that it is from a scientific and reputable source.
Listen to the interview with Dr Neelaveni Padayache
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