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• Contact the National Center for Disaster Fraud hotline at 866-720-5721 or email disaster@leo.gov. 
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• Submit your complaint through the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)

Is it possible that the COVID-19 vaccine could affect my ability to get pregnant? 

No. There is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines cause problems getting pregnant. Confusion arose when a false report surfaced on social media, saying that the spike protein on this coronavirus was the same as another spike protein, called syncitin-1, that is involved in the growth and attachment of the placenta during pregnancy. The false report said that getting the COVID-19 vaccine would cause a pregnant person’s body to fight this different spike protein and affect their fertility. The two spike proteins are completely different and distinct, and getting the COVID-19 vaccine will not affect the fertility of people who are seeking to become pregnant, including through in vitro fertilization methods. Laura Morris, an MD at Missouri Health Care, offers a helpful analogy for understanding this: 

“...for your immune system to get mixed up and attack the placental protein would be like you mistaking an elephant for an alley cat because they’re both gray. There is one small similarity, but the overall construction of the protein is so completely different, your immune system is way too smart to be confused by that.” 

• While Pfizer and Moderna use different technology than Johnson & Johnson vaccines, they all do the same thing: teach your immune system how to respond when it comes in contact with the COVID-19 virus. 

• Your body is left with a supply of “memory” T-lymphocytes as well as B-lymphocytes that will remember how to fight that virus in the future. It typically takes a few weeks after vaccination for the body to produce T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes, all without making you sick. 

• The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines includes a fragment of the mRNA that encodes for a certain portion of the coronavirus' spike protein. When the vaccine is given to us, our cells make that protein – a fragment of it – and then our bodies build an immune response to the protein. 
• The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a viral vector vaccine that uses a modified, harmless version of a different virus (the vector) to deliver important instructions to our cells. This allows your body to have an immune response against the spike protein found on the COIVD-19 virus, and ultimately, an immune response to infection. 
• In addition, in both Pfizer and Moderna clinical trials, there were equal numbers of pregnancy in the placebo and vaccine group (18), showing that the vaccine didn’t enhance or negatively affect fertility.  

When pregnant, getting sick from COVID-19 infection is very dangerous. It can cause preterm birth, stillbirth, severe illness during pregnancy, and, in some cases, even death for the mother. That’s why getting the vaccine is so important -  it protects the pregnant person from getting sick in the first place.  

If you are trying to become pregnant now or want to get pregnant in the future, you may get a COVID-19 vaccine. Here’s a link to Dr. Paul Offit from the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania talking about where this myth came from and shares other information about the question.

• Black Americans & Health Equity
  • Black Americans have faced an increased risk of being hospitalized and dying from COVID-19 compared to White Americans. This disproportionate burden placed a spotlight on the ongoing impact of systemic racism and long-standing inequities on the health of Black Americans. This infographic highlights many of these factors and opportunities for advancing health equity. 

• Native Americans & Health Equity
  • American Indians have been hospitalized from COVID-19 at 3.3 times the rate of White Americans. These challenges are rooted in the historical impacts of colonization and exacerbated by health disparities. Systemic factors such as limited access to medical services, and lack of access to broadband and running water, served as barriers that prevented many Tribal Nations from implementing COVID-19 safety measures and providing key virtual health care services. 

• Hispanic Americans & Health Equity
  • Long-standing social and economic inequities – including language barriers, overrepresentation as frontline workers, and lower access to insurance benefits – have left Latinx Americans at increased risk of contracting COVID-19 and having more severe cases of the disease. Hispanic and Latinx Americans have been 2.8 times more likely to be hospitalized and 2.3 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than White Americans.