Fifth of mothers with young children fear jab will affect fertility

WOMEN with young children are significantly more likely to be worried about taking a Covid vaccine, official figures show.

A survey by the Office for National Statistics found that 21 per cent of mothers living with a dependent child aged four or less admitted they were afraid of inoculation because of possible effects on their fertility.

This is compared with 9 per cent of mothers without a dependent child, and 5 per cent of those with a dependent child aged five or over.

Women in the first category, who were most likely to be planning further pregnancies, were reported as saying they were fearful of the vaccines’ effects.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is among several bodies to say there was no evidence that the vaccines affect women’s fertility.

However, experts are concerned about a tide of misinformation. The

ONS survey also found that younger adults, black and black British adults, renters, lower earners and those living in the most deprived areas are more likely to be hesitant.

It said that overall 94 per cent of those surveyed were positive about the vaccine, up from 78 per cent in Decem- ber when the data were first collected.

But it found that 9 per cent of 18,112 adults in Great Britain reported vaccine hesitancy between Jan 13 and Feb 7.

Forty-four per cent of black or black British adults reported hesitancy. This was the highest level in all ethnic groups, with the odds of hesitancy six times as high in black or black British adults compared with white adults after adjusting for other factors. The age group with the highest level of hesitancy was 16- to 29-year-olds, with 17 per cent reporting hesitancy, compared with 1 per cent of those over 80.

The ONS said higher rates of hesitancy in the younger age groups could be driven by the prioritisation of older age groups in the vaccine rollout.

The same proportion – 16 per cent – of adults living in England’s most deprived areas were hesitant, compared with 7 per cent in the least deprived parts of the country. The most common reasons for hesitancy included being worried about side-effects, the longterm effect on health, wanting to wait to see how well the vaccine works, or not thinking it is safe. Of those who reported negative sentiment, 11 per cent of women said they were pregnant or trying to conceive and were worried about any effects on the baby.

Tim Vizard, from the ONS, said: “Over the past three months, we’ve seen people become increasingly positive about the vaccines, with over nine in 10 adults saying they would have it if offered, or having already had it.”