Jonathan Van-Tam has described rumours some have propagated surrounding the Covid vaccine affecting fertility as "nonsense."
England’s deputy chief medical officer gave a frank response when quizzed on the topic.
Professor Van-Tam appeared on Good Morning Britain with Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid to discuss the coronavirus pandemic.
He was asked about whether pregnant women or women looking to start a family should get the vaccine.
Mr Van-Tam said that it was important for women who were at risk of serious illness with Covid due to underlying health conditions to seek advice from their doctor.
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He said: “When we say ‘for the time being’ we advise the vaccine in pregnant women who are at severe risk of Covid-19.
“We are not saying that we believe it is unsafe in the wider population of pregnant women but we don’t yet have that extensive data.
“We will have (more data) in time and right now if you are pregnant and you have very significant health conditions - you might die of Covid so for goodness sake have that conversation with your doctor about whether it’s the right thing for you to do.
“I wouldn’t have any hesitation in having that discussion personally with a pregnant woman who was at very high risk.”
Susanna Reid then raised the issue of a wider mistrust of the vaccine in some communities.
Prof Van-Tam added: “You make a wider point about ‘I’m thinking of having a family in the next year or so, should I defer the vaccine?’ and all this nonsense that is out there too about fertility.
“There is just no evidence at all that there are any issues in relating to planning a family or fertility.
“So no. If you’re in a risk condition and you’re called, my advice would be to get on and take the vaccine.”
Piers Morgan said: “We’re in the final stages hopefully of this war but it does rely on compliance and one big issue is people not wanting to have the vaccine.
“What do we do about those people who simply don’t want to have it and in particular, given your background, what do you feel about people who work in the NHS or in care homes who are refusing to have the vaccine?”
Mr Van Tam said: “What I think I’d do is I’d chop that up again into people who have accepted it, people who just say ‘I am never having a vaccine in my life’ and I wish they didn’t have that view.
“That is their view and there are a lot of people in the middle who are more likely to be in a position of ‘well, I’m just going to wait and see a bit longer.’
“But actually the data don’t show that. The data show that well over 90 per cent in the over 80s, well over 90 per cent in the 75-79s, well over 90 per cent in the 70-74 and as we come down the age groups we are constantly surprised that people are very accepting and ‘get it’.
“One thing this vaccine does according to the data is it breaks the link between you getting this and you ending up in hospital.”
