While a good diet, rest, exercise, and staying hydrated are good for your health, they do not help you build immunity to HPV, the major cause of 7 types of cancer, many of which can affect fertility themselves.

Much large-scale research on the effects of HPV vaccines on fertility issues have been done, and they show that the vaccine is not associated with ovarian failure, and may be associated with improved fertility for some women.

A compelling Swedish study of 1.7 million women demonstrates an almost 90% reduction in cervical cancer rates in the vaccinated population versus the unvaccinated population.

Shingles is caused by the the varicella zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox. Once you’ve had chickenpox, the virus can live within your nerve cells and lay dormant until it can reactivate later in life as shingles. While there is a vaccine for chickenpox now, those born before 1995 when the vaccine was first introduced, were likely to have contracted chickenpox. And 30% of all people who contract chickenpox are likely to develop shingles later in life.

So why does this not practicing doctor believe her shingles was the result of a vaccine she spoke about more than a year prior to her developing shingles? While there is some evidence that the vaccine can cause a reactivation of the varicella zoster virus on rare occasions, those tend to happen within days of the vaccine. More importantly, the risk of developing shingles exists with COVID infection itself.

As proof of these claims, anti-vaxxers often note that the flu vaccine inserts make no mention of safety testing during pregnancy. Vaccine inserts are written when the vaccine first comes on the market and include all information available at the time of its writing. The studies cited are usually the original clinical trials, and once the vaccine and its insert are approved by the FDA, the wording cannot be changed.

As noted in the insert, pregnant women were not involved in the vaccine’s clinical trials. In the decades since its release, we have studies to back up the safety of vaccinating during pregnancy. For example, this systematic review of birth outcomes for vaccinated mothers looked at 40 studies and found that with each passing year, we have more evidence that the inactivated flu vaccine is safe for pregnant people and their babies.