A claim stating that unprotected sex within 28 days of receiving Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine causes genetic manipulation leading to birth defects has gone viral on social media. However, it appears that the claim is a hoax even as the pharma giant had asked its trial patients to avoid pregnancy to rule out reproductive safety risk.
Earlier, the Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine was rumored to be causing female sterilization in its recipients. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the possible vaccine has been engulfed in a series of bizarre conspiracies leading from microchip implants to 5G technology, none of which were found to be true.
Will Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccine Cause Birth Defects?
The viral claim states that the pharma giant's COVID-19 vaccine manual's "page 132" warns not to have unprotected sex for 28 days after the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine because "genetic manipulation" may cause birth defects.
Several users shared the copy-paste claim viral on the social media platforms. The claim was accompanied by a link leading to the to a publicly available document detailing the methods used in a Pfizer/BioNTech clinical trial for the vaccine that is presently being used.
"Pfizer vaccine study: "No unprotected sex for 28 days after administration" This is from the vaccine study. That means they deliberately excluded events that might show results which affect fertility. So they cheated, hid the truth," wrote a user.
"Once all American girls get sterilized by the C0v1d ccine, the condom industry will be utterly destroyed Pfizer shall usher in a new age of unprotected sex This will be the end of plastic cummies," tweeted another.
"Yet the pfizer vaccine info says no unprotected sex for 28 days because they don't know what long term affects this will do to fertility... This "life saving" product is so good at saving your life it, maybe, makes sure you can't create life yourself. So safe," opined another user.
What is the Truth Behind the Viral Claim?
However, the document in the link, titled "A PHASE 1/2/3, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED, RANDOMIZED, OBSERVER-BLIND, DOSE-FINDING STUDY TO EVALUATE THE SAFETY, TOLERABILITY, IMMUNOGENICITY, AND EFFICACY OF SARS-COV-2 RNA VACCINE CANDIDATES AGAINST COVID-19 IN HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS," does not mention birth defects or genetic manipulation.
Instead, the document recommended that the study participants take measures to avoid pregnancy for 28 days after the last vaccine dose during the trial, a time period "which corresponds to the time needed to eliminate reproductive safety risk" of the vaccine. According to Snopes, this is a broad recommendation for all clinical trials of new pharmaceuticals with unknown reproductive risks. It is also mentioned by the National Institutes of Health.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also stated that women who are trying to become pregnant do not need to avoid pregnancy after receiving an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. "Experts believe that mRNA vaccines are unlikely to pose a risk to the pregnant person or the fetus. However, the potential risks of mRNA vaccines to the pregnant person and the fetus are unknown because these vaccines have not been studied in pregnant people," noted CDC, according to the outlet.
