Hi,
I am currently going through fertility treatment in Scotland, via the NHS.
I did not get vaccinated until it became a requirement by the ACS clinics and ScotGov to be fully vaxed or else you could not get treatment.
Since then I have been misinformed about vaccine waiting times between one and two, as well as there being no update from ScotGov by end of Feb despite stating they would do so.
Has anyone else experienced this?
I have explained more in the post attached.
In late December 2021, Scotgov decided women who were unvaccinated, regardless of health status otherwise, would not be entitled to fertility treatment.
In no other area are people being forced to be vaccinated to receive NHS care.
There has been a lot of misinformation re vaccines and fertility, so many chose not to be vaccinated until more research was carried out.
I’ve spoken to NHSGGC nurses who have told me women struggling to conceive felt unable to air their concerns about the vaccine, however valid.
Women who were receiving treatment (meds, IVF, IUI) were given no forewarning on the decision, turning up to appointments to be told they would no longer receive services until they were fully vaxed.
The govt caveated this by telling women they could get the 2nd dose after 4 weeks, to hurry along the process.
This proved untrue in practice, Scotgovt did not gain approval and fertility patients are not getting vaccines any earlier.
Some will have been in the middle of the IVF process, to be told they have to wait 10 weeks to resume treatment (at the earliest). These rules were supposed to be reviewed “during February or earlier”, the review will not take place until the last day of Feb (confirmed).
Men undergoing fertility treatment do not need to be vaccinated. The reasons for this were based on evidence that pregnant women are more likely to receive ICU care if unvaccinated, but the evidence also said the women who required ICU treatment were overwhelmingly obese, something women receiving fertility treatment are not allowed to be.
Concerns were raised about the rising Omicron variant, which is no longer rising. Concerns were raised about the impact of Omicron on pregnant women being worse than other variants, it has proven to be the least life threatening variant