Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) leader Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky attempted on Wednesday to reassure young couples who are seeking to have children that the coronavirus vaccine is safe and won't impact their fertility.
In a video circulated on social media, Kanievsky is told that "Young men and women who don't have children yet or who are waiting to have more children are afraid that if they take the vaccine it will disrupt their ability to have more children. They asked if there's a reason to be concerned." Kanievsky replied "no" and gave a blessing that these couples will succeed in having children.
Kanievsky and Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, leaders of the Ashkenazi, non-hassidic haredi community, have said that people should get vaccinated and have instructed teachers and students of haredi schools to get vaccinated ahead of the expected reopening of the school system after the national lockdown.