Vaccinated x Unvaccinated: Women with Diverging Fertility Patterns

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11310%2F25%3A10507388" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11310/25:10507388 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

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DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Vaccinated x Unvaccinated: Women with Diverging Fertility Patterns

Original language description

The COVID-19 vaccination prompted widespread debate about its effects on fertility. This study explores fertility patterns among vaccinated and unvaccinated women in Czechia, using individual-level data from the National Health Information System. By linking the Registry of COVID-19 vaccination with the Maternity registry, we analyze fertility behavior within selected female birth cohorts (1976-1991) with childbirth records from 1994 to 2024. Vaccination status is defined as receiving at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Fertility is observed both before and after vaccination, including the pre-pandemic period, allowing us to assess whether differences between vaccinated and unvaccinated women existed independently of the pandemic or vaccination itself. Our analysis employs the Parity-and-Vaccination Conditional Age-Specific Fertility Rate. This measure effectively controls for demographic differences by restricting exposure only to women at risk of a specific birth order. Results confirm significant, behavioral heterogeneity even before the COVID-19 pandemic: the probability of a first birth is consistently higher among vaccinated women. Conversely, unvaccinated women show higher probabilities of progressing to second and higher-order births, often at younger ages, indicating potential socioeconomic disparities. The observed differences in fertility are driven by structural factors unrelated to COVID-19 vaccination status, since pronounced differences in reproductive patterns between the two groups of women were apparent well before the COVID-19 vaccination campaign began. Furthermore, the overall post-pandemic fertility decline is evident in both groups. Our findings underscore the critical need for robust methodological control, concluding that without it, any direct association between COVID-19 vaccination and fertility remains inconclusive.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

O - Miscellaneous

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

50402 - Demography

Project

<a href="/en/project/LM2024074" target="_blank" >LM2024074: Czech National Cluster for Family Research</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)<br>S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů