Covid vaccine: any thoughts from your clinics?

[indigocloud]

Hi all! Just wondering if you've had the chance to ask your IVF clinics about whether or not the male should get the Covid jab? NHS only has guidance on this for women as far as I can see, and there's no mention of what the men should do during this period whilst TTC. I know most of us/our partners are probably quite far down the line in terms of priority, so it's not an immediate thing.

Still, it's a balance between men being innoculated so you lower the risk of catching it from him, and not having sufficient clinical data to say what the risks are for couples TTC.

Has anyone actually had any feedback on this from their clinic please?

So far there is no evidence the vaccine impacts on fertility but there is evidence that covid can impact on fertility so I presume clinics would be telling male partners to get the vaccine. I haven’t spoken to my consultant about it yet but I can’t see any reason why they wouldn’t encourage it.

So far there is no evidence the vaccine impacts on fertility but there is evidence that covid can impact on fertility

Yes, but in that case they should also encourage the women to get the vaccine. But the NHS guidance for women is specifically not to get the vaccine whilst TTC, which is why I was wondering.

Had my nurses appointment for starting my IVF journey in Jan and was told during that time that pregnant women or those looking to get pregnant shouldn't get the vaccine just now. So I have been told not to get it as away to start IVF treatment.

@indigocloud sorry I think you’ve misunderstood. The advice for women is that most women TTC could be pregnant very soon and therefore will be pregnant when needing to get the second dose. So they’re advised not to get it due to pregnancy not due to impacts on fertility from TTC.

So to break it down. No known or expected impact of covid vaccine on fertility but not advised during pregnancy so no issues with men getting it but women who may be pregnant within 3 months of getting it shouldn’t take it.

Hope that clear it’s up for you @indigocloud

@willithappen Hi, yes I'm definitely not getting the jab whilst TTC as that's the govt guidance for women. The question is more on the male partner as I mentioned in the original post. The part about "those looking to get pregnant shouldn't get the vaccine just now" - I presume they're referring only to the women, not the men since they're not getting pregnant per se. So in short, I'm seeking specific IVF clinics' views on if the men in TTC couples should get the jab. Hope that clarifies :)

@ForeverAintEnough - thanks. "No known or expected impact of covid vaccine on fertility but not advised during pregnancy so no issues with men getting it but women who may be pregnant within 3 months of getting it shouldn’t take it." Is that your interpretation of the guidance or is that written somewhere on a government site/the views of your IVF clinic? If the latter, could you point me in the right direction please? I just didn't see anything about men one way or another in official material and didn't want to presume. Thanks!

@indigocloud there won’t be any official guidance on this as there’s no impact of the vaccine on men ttc. It’s like looking for formal guidance on the impact of covid vaccine on men planning to do a triathlon. There is formal advice for women who are pregnant or who will be pregnant (TTC) and people who have severe allergies for example as there is a contraindication there. I think you’ve confused the advice for pregnancy as advice for TTC hence your worries over men getting it.

I would be extremely surprised if any consultant said otherwise.

Sorry I should have clarified my response further - my clinic have advised ME not to get the vaccine but have said it's up to my partner whether he gets. They don't advise men ttc not to get it.

The following information is provided with the strong caveat that everyone should speak with their own healthcare provider about their personal circumstances prior to making a decision.

In order to be used in the general population, any medication or vaccine needs to go through a lot of safety testing. This includes looking at its safety in a range of groups of people. If there is insufficient data about a group, then even if the vaccine is considered to meet safety criteria in other groups, it cannot be recommended for use in the group for which there isn't enough data.

The covid vaccine has gone through a lot of safety testing and has met the requirements to be approved for use in the general population. However, there isn't safety data for its use in pregnancy. So, the regulators can't say whether it's safe or not in pregnancy with a high enough degree of certainty to recommend its widespread use in that group of people.

The guidance coming out is therefore that if women are pregnant or "planning to become pregnant" within 3 months of the date of the first vaccination, they shouldn't get vaccinated with this vaccine at this time. The guidance may change as more information becomes available, so may be different by the time people are being offered it.

Ok folks, I just had my consultation session with my clinic and here's what they are saying about the vaccine for men who, along with their partners, are TTC:

• The question of whether the male in this situation should get the vaccine is a good one, and one that they are in the midst of seeking clarification with the government.
• In the meantime, if you are a couple TTC via a fresh transfer, they recommend that the male does not take the vaccine as there's no data on whether it would impact the embryo.
• If you are a couple TTC via FET, they say it is fine for the male to go for the vaccination.

So in short, it depends on method of IVF you're going through. Hope this helps :)