1. Is the COVID-19 Vaccine safe? 

Honestly, this question can be broken down into several categories that would deem it safe. 

First question that came to mind was how many people have safely gotten through the clinical trials without serious adverse effects?

Out of the 43,252 participants in the BioNtech study for the Pfizer vaccine, only 4 serious adverse events occurred in vaccine recipients. Two vaccine recipients died, but this was found to be unrelated to the vaccine. To counter that, four placebo participants died as well, which was obviously unrelated to the vaccine (1).

And although these findings can be scary, I feel that the risk of a serious adverse event happening was far too low for me to avoid getting the vaccine. Other than that, all other side effects were side effects that I know are related to an immune response that you want after getting any vaccine.

So far, I had added 1 point to the pro side of my Pro/Con List.  

Does the Emergency Use Authorization mean that it is less safe?

Although the vaccine is not yet FDA approved, Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) means that there are circumstances that exist to justify its release to the public before the FDA can clear it as an FDA-approved vaccine. In this case, the emergency is the global COVID-19 pandemic.

But just because it’s released before FDA approval, does not mean that the FDA has not reviewed its safety. In fact, the vaccines safety and efficacy has been reviewed by “panels of independent experts retained by the companies; by FDA scientific staff; and by an independent panel of experts convened by the FDA” (2). They deemed that “there are no reported serious safety concerns from this vaccine” (2).

If your keeping track, I considered this to be another point to my Pro List.  

Does my medical history make me more prone to having an adverse reaction?

The serious adverse events that happened in the study were related to poor administration technique of the vaccine, serious cardiac events, and stroke. Since my personal medical history does not place me at increased risk for heart disease or stroke, I feel that my chances of having one of the rare and serious adverse reactions was slim. And since I have given a substantial number of vaccines and injections in my nursing career, I also would be able to identify the correct and incorrect technique of vaccine administration.

Aside from that, I also had the opportunity to see how other healthcare professionals were responding to the vaccine in my workplace and around the US. Since I was going to receive the vaccine 1 week after most healthcare professionals, I was able to hear about the very few anaphylactic reactions that occurred once the vaccine became available for front-line healthcare professionals. But it soon became clear that the people who did react were people with serious allergies that required them to carry around epi-pens.

Again, looking at my own medical history, I have no known drug allergies, so I wasn’t truly concerned about this.  

Can it harm my fertility?

To be honest, this remains a question. To date, there is no data to prove it is safe for people who are pregnant or breastfeeding. This also means that getting the vaccine is something to talk to your doctor about if you are planning to become pregnant.

Given the fact that they only have data that follows vaccine recipients for about 2-3 months after receiving the second dose, we do not know long-term side effects from the vaccine. Of course, the study is set up to continue following them for the next 2 years, so we will know more as time goes on. 

That being said, my struggle with infertility has been a 5-year long journey and currently my husband and I are taking a break from “trying.” Though, do you really ever stop “trying” when you struggle with infertility? Anyways, I have reached a point where I have become more accepting of my diagnosis. Basically, after some thought, I feel my biologic ability to procreate is not more important than the health of the world and my community.

So, if this vaccine decreases my already low chances of becoming pregnant but increases mine and my community’s immunity against COVID-19, then I am okay with that.