Teens can now get their COVID vaccines, experts say it won't impact fertility

"There is no link between the COVID-19 vaccines and fertility -- it's an urban legend," one expert said.

Children have been routinely vaccinated by medical professionals for more than 100 years. Now, with Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine authorized in children 12 and up, scientists are once again reassuring the public of the shots' safety for younger generations. COVID-19 vaccines introduced a new mRNA platform to immunization, but they work the same way other vaccines work to help the body create protection. On a cellular level, scientists say it's impossible for these vaccines to interfere with a person's own genetic blueprint. That means that like all other childhood immunizations, COVID-19 vaccines won't interfere with puberty, or future fertility. "These particles cannot cause any long-term issues, such as autoimmune diseases or impacts on fertility or pregnancy," said Dr. Stacy De-Lin, a gynecologist and family planning specialist dedicated to preventing the spread of misinformation. "There is no link between the COVID-19 vaccines and fertility -- it's an urban legend." Decades of research on the platforms used to create current COVID-19 vaccines have allowed experts to clearly understand what happens once the vaccine gets inside the human body – and say it cannot alter our own genetic makeup.