COVID vaccine won't prevent pregnancy but infection might: Updates

Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 won’t affect a couple’s chances of getting pregnant, but contracting the coronavirus could impair male fertility.

Those are the main conclusions of a study funded by the National Institutes of Health, refuting a common myth about the vaccine and sending a warning to men who avoid it.

Researchers at Boston University studied more than 2,000 couples and found no differences in their chances of conception if either partner was vaccinated compared to unvaccinated couples. But the couples’ chances of conceiving decreased slightly if the male partner had contracted the virus 60 days or less before a menstrual cycle, an indication of diminished male fertility.

One possible reason for that, researchers theorized, is the likelihood coronavirus infection would cause a fever, which has been known to reduce sperm count.

Among the males in the study who tested positive more than 60 days before the cycle, conception rates were the same as males who had not been infected. But couples in which the male was infected within that 60-day window were 18{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} less likely to conceive in that cycle.

“The findings provide reassurance that vaccination for couples seeking pregnancy does not appear to impair fertility,” said Diana Bianchi, M.D., director of NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, which funded the study. “They also provide information for physicians who counsel patients hoping to conceive.”

Misinformation about the impact of COVID vaccines on pregnancy and fertility has been so prevalent that some doctors have proactively dispelled the myth with their patients of reproductive age.

In September 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urgently exhorted those who were pregnant or planning to conceive to get vaccinated, after the pandemic’s highest number of COVID deaths among pregnant people was recorded the month before.

“In addition to the risks of severe illness and death for pregnant and recently pregnant people,” the CDC wrote, “there is an increased risk for adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcomes, including preterm birth and admission of their neonate(s) to an intensive care unit.”

Also in the news:

►Czech folk singer Hana Horká, 57, has died just days after announcing on Facebook that she deliberately contracted COVID to avoid vaccination and was recovering from the disease.

►All New Jersey health care workers will need to be fully vaccinated and receive booster shots or face termination under an order signed by Gov. Phil Murphy.

►The U.N.-backed organization Medicines Patent Pool announced Thursday that it has signed agreements with more than two dozen generic drug makers to produce versions of Merck’s COVID-19 pill to supply 105 developing countries..

Today’s numbers: The U.S. has recorded more than 68 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 858,700 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Global totals: More than 338.9 million cases and over 5.56 million deaths. More than 209 million Americans – 63{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} – are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What we’re reading: Now that the U.S. government has launched its free coronavirus test delivery website, how useful will these COVID-19 tests be for travelers who need a negative test to fly to their destination? Read more.

Keep refreshing this page for the latest news. Want more? Sign up for USA TODAY’s free Coronavirus Watch newsletter to receive updates directly to your inbox and join our Facebook group.

Austria to require all adults to be vaccinated – a first in Europe

Austria is about to become the first European country to require COVID-19 vaccinations for all adults.

The Austrian parliament voted Thursday to implement the mandate for residents 18 and older starting Feb. 1. Fines could rise up to 3,600 euros ($4,000) for repeat violators. Some exemptions for medical reasons and previous infections would be allowed.

“This is how we can manage to escape the cycle of opening and closing, of lockdowns,” Health Minister Wolfgang Mueckstein said. “That is why this law is so urgently needed right now.”

About 72{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of Austria’s population of 8.9 million is fully vaccinated.

Indiana considers approving ivermectin for COVID-19 despite FDA warnings

An Indiana lawmaker wants to block the state’s health care providers from discouraging use of the anti-parasite medicine ivermectin to treat COVID-19, a controversial treatment that has been rejected by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The legislation authored by Republican Rep. Curt Nisly would allow an Indiana doctor or advanced practice registered nurse to write a standing order for ivermectin – and ban pharmacists from discouraging using of the drug to treat coronavirus.

The FDA says ivermectin should never be used to treat or prevent COVID-19, and that incorrect use has required some patients to seek medical treatment. “Currently available data do not show ivermectin is effective against COVID-19,” the FDA says on its website.

Dr. Elizabeth Struble, president of the Indiana State Medical Association, said in an emailed statement that she found the proposed legislation concerning.

“A health care provider prescribing an unproven therapy can be dangerous for the health of Hoosiers,” Struble said. “What’s even more dangerous is legislating the creation of a very broad, standing-order mechanism so pharmacists can freely dispense an unproven therapy.”

– Shari Rudavsky, Indianapolis Star

Is there COVID in the air? This device can tell us

It’s not available for everyone yet, but Yale University researchers have developed an easy-to-use, clip-on device that can detect low levels of the virus that causes COVID-19 in the air around you, according to research published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters. Experts in Yale’s School of Engineering and Applied Science and the School of Public Health designed the Fresh Air Clip, a 3D-printed air sampler measuring about 1 inch in diameter that collects samples of air on a film inside the badge-shaped device. Read more here.

Researchers are using the Fresh Air Clips in additional studies at health care facilities in Connecticut and hope to make them available to members of public in the future.

– Mike Snider

Unvaccinated Massachusetts man dies while waiting for hospital care

A Massachusetts man and pizza shop owner died while waiting for a hospital bed to open up after contracting COVID-19. Antonios “Tony” Tsantinis, 68, of East Brookfield died Dec. 10. Tsantinis had been admitted to a local hospital but needed additional care that the hospital was unable to provide.

“They called every hospital within 75 miles,” his daughter, Rona Tsantinis-Roy said. But by the time a spot opened up at a Connecticut hospital, he was too sick to be transferred. Tsantinis was unvaccinated and “didn’t believe in vaccines,” Tsantinis-Roy told NPR.

– Kim Ring and Asha C. Gilbert

Hundreds of docs press FDA to approve vaccine for kids under 5

About 250 physicians sent a letter Thursday to the FDA demanding children under 5 get “urgent access” to COVID-19 vaccines. The letter argues the science supports immediate vaccine access and “procedural red tape” is preventing that. Pfizer announced early tests showed the 3-microgram doses given to 2- to 5-year-olds didn’t produce as much immune protection as did shots given to other age groups. The company hopes an additional dose of vaccine will provide the desired effectiveness, but that means waiting until late March or early April for results.

Based on previous actions by the FDA, the COVID vaccine may be available for children 2 to 4 around May, said Dr. Robert Frenck, director of the Vaccine Research Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Children 6 to 24 months may have to wait until late summer or fall, he said.

– Adrianna Rodriguez

Tennessee considers school vouchers if public schools go virtual

A Tennessee bill that would allow the state’s families to use tax dollars to send their children to private schools if their zoned public school goes virtual cleared the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday. Students could be eligible for education savings accounts, a type of school voucher, if their zoned public school did not offer 180 days of in-person instruction because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill, sponsored by two Republican legislators, would not take effect until Sept. 1, 2025. Students would be eligible if their district pivoted to remote learning at any point in the three years, starting with the 2022-23 school year.

“We know that in-person learning is the most effective way to educate a child, to educate a student,” Sen. Mike Bell said.

– Meghan Mangrum, Nashville Tennessean

Two years later, concerns over pandemic grow

Americans’ pandemic fears rose with the infection rate in January, prompting most Americans to avoid large crowds even as masking and vaccine rates remain mostly stagnant, a new survey indicates. A Gallup poll of 1,569 U.S. adults, conducted online Jan. 3-14, found a steep rise in the percentage of Americans who said the pandemic is “getting worse,” as compared to fall 2021 data. Americans’ optimism had increased when vaccines started rolling out, but now over half of respondents said they think the pandemic is getting worse.

“Worry has jumped … and is now the highest it has been since last winter, before COVID-19 vaccines were readily available to the general public,” a summary of poll results says.

– Claire Thornton, USA TODAY

Omicron spike may be near peak in California

California, a state where an omicron-driven spike in COVID-19 cases occurred later than in cities such as Chicago, New York City and Washington, D.C., may reach peak case numbers and see case rates begin to fall this week, according to a forecast from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. The model predicted a peak in cases from the state for Jan. 19, with an estimation of almost 130,000 cases a day.

Earlier this week, USA TODAY talked to Marlene Wolfe, an assistant professor of environmental health at Emory University in Atlanta and part of the Sewer Coronavirus Alert Network, a team of scientists that evaluates sewage treatment plants to gain information about COVID-19 rates in California communities. Wolfe told USA TODAY at the time that testing in about a dozen California cities, the largest of which are Sacramento and San Jose, shows a few cities with possible downward trends but nothing concrete.

Other cities are on the rise, and it will take more time or data to determine where peaks have occurred, Wolfe said.

Testing firm fraudulently reported negative test results, complaint says

The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office filed a consumer-protection lawsuit Wednesday against a nationwide chain of coronavirus testing sites for “deceptive and fraudulent practices.” The suit alleges the Illinois-based Center for COVID Control and its primary lab, Doctors Clinical Lab, collected samples from Minnesotans for coronavirus testing but either failed to deliver test results or delivered test results that were false or inaccurate, according to the complaint reviewed by USA TODAY.

The company and its lab “provide inaccurate and deceptive test result information to Minnesota consumers and have fraudulently reported negative test results to consumers that never completed COVID-19 tests,” according to the complaint. Some test results listed “the wrong test type and false dates and times for when samples were collected from consumers,” the complaint said.

A Center for COVID Control spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the complaint. The center is operated by Illinois residents Akbar Syed and Aleya Siyaj, the complaint says. In recent months, the couple has purchased a number of luxury vehicles and a $1.36 million mansion.

– Grace Hauck, USA TODAY

Contributing: The Associated Press

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