Vaccinations against Covid-19 do not harm a women's fertility and Scots should be confident in their safety, the country's clinical director has said.
Jason Leitch spoke out today after a poll found that more than a quarter of 18-to-34-year-old women in the UK said they would say no to the jab, citing concerns over the vaccine's effect on pregnancies.
It comes as several rumours and myths have been circulating online about the range of vaccines now approved for use, including fears that the jab could affect fertility.
Speaking at the Scottish Government's regular media briefing, he said: "The first thing to say is it's factually wrong. It's biologically implausible that vaccinations could cause any effect on fertility whatsoever. It is not true."
The public health official urged anyone with concerns about the vaccine to check "trusted sources" which would explain why they are safe and why it's important that as many adults as possible agree to be vaccinated against coronavirus.
"We have to use trusted sources as much as we can," he added. "That would be my advice to those of you who have kids, relatives or friends who are in this age group who are worried about this, and get their news from non-trusted sources.
"They should go to the Royal College of Midwives, or go to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health - they don't have to just listen to the Scottish Government or its advisors. There are other independent ways to get this same knowledge.
"I don't want to give this conspiracy theory any more credence than it frankly deserves, but I do want to tackle that misinformation in a really intelligent way.
"Those who are young still need the vaccine. They need it for themselves, but they also need it to protect their elderly relatives.
"Vaccination just now is about protecting individuals, vaccination in the future is about protecting the whole population."
Health secretary Jeane Freeman said: "We want the overwhelming majority of adults in Scotland to take this vaccine, and to come back for a second dose, because we are convinced of the safety and impact of it.
"We need to pay attention where people have hesitancies and legitimate questions they want to ask us and respond to those as frankly as we can."
