Welcome back, the American College
of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
recently stated that studies found the COVID vaccine
does not impair fertility.
But many women are still reluctant
to get the shot for that exact reason.
I spoke to Miami-based OB-GYN, Dr. Jennifer Schell,
about how the misinformation surrounding the vaccine
could cost people their lives.
And she knows that firsthand.
She shares with me the story of her father,
a doctor himself, who recently died of COVID
after opting out of the vaccine.
Dr. Shell, thank you so much
for taking the time to be with us today.
You're a doctor, specifically an OB-GYN,
but you're also a mother who had a baby
in the middle of this pandemic,
and you're someone whose family has been impacted by COVID.
So I think it's safe to say
that you've experienced this pandemic in a way
that a lot of people have not
because you've felt it from so many different angles.
Tell me what this last year and a half,
almost two years soon, has been like for you.
A rollercoaster is basically the summary.
It's very accurate in all aspects.
During the pregnancy, medically speaking as well.
In the beginning it was said that pregnant women
were not thought to be at higher risk
for serious complications for COVID-19.
And that to me never made any sense,
because as an obstetrician, it doesn't make sense
because the pregnant woman has a large abdomen
with the baby, the placenta, the amniotic fluid,
and everything exerting pressure on the lungs.
It made no sense ever to say
that that population wasn't at higher risk
of complications and death from COVID-19.
Then they changed things.
And then they put out many statements confirming.
Many of us OB-GYNs had this suspicion,
but obviously we have to let the virus show itself
and perform studies, and all of this to prove
the things that we know by,
I don't want to call it common sense,
because it's not common sense.
It's medical sense, and everything we studied for years,
just like the mRNA vaccine.
We study mRNA in medical school,
and we're familiar with the term.
Many people, it's the first time in their lives
that they've heard mRNA.
They think it's a word sometimes.
They don't know it's just letters.
And so for us, it's in a way obvious
to say that it's a safe vaccine.
To me, it's always been obvious
that I shouldn't be scared of it for my clients or patients
when they want the vaccine
and they want to have children in the future.
Finally, it's been confirmed now by studies
that it does not cause infertility
because the mRNA is just a messenger
that tells your cells to produce antibodies to a virus.
I could never fathom a way that this messenger
that just tells your cell to produce antibodies
to a specific virus, not even a whole category of viruses,
can affect fertility in any way.
So where do you think all this misinformation came from?
I know a lot of people who see things on social media.
But specifically to the pregnant women,
and this fear that they shouldn't get vaccinated,
or it can cause an issue to their child,
or it can cause them to not be able to have children
in the future, or this idea that it affects
your menstrual cycle to the point that other people
who didn't get vaccinated,
but they're around a vaccinated person.
I see your reaction there.
Where did this all come from?
And as someone who is an expert in this field,
how frustrating was it to see this information being spread?
It's very frustrating.
I want to go on rooftops and yell it.
Because as a doctor, you want to save lives
and help people stay healthy.
And when you hear all these things that you can't,
again, using the word fathom,
how people can think these things.
But it's fear.
It's fear, and fear, what people say fear-mongering,
and all these things.
It's what's gonna cause misinformation out there.
And people who are not doctors,
or not even in the medical field at all,
giving their research opinions.
And their research is literally putting words on Google
and just reading from webpages that are not really reputable
and not reading the science.
And just sadly, it's how the world views doctors.
They don't trust us for some reason.
Back in the day,
doctors were very respected and very trusted.
And yes, of course, there's things in history
that are not okay in the medical field.
But we've come a long way.
And in the beginning of the pandemic,
it was we were heroes and the frontliners.
I was not a frontliner, I was pregnant at my house.
And when people would call me a frontliner,
I'm like, no, I'm not, not right now.
Right now I'm home with Millie.
But frontliners were heroes.
And people were putting hearts for healthcare workers
and nurses and everybody at the hospitals
and the people that cleaned the hospitals and all of this.
And now, again, doctors and nurses are bad people,
and they're trying to inject us with chips.
Where do they even get that stuff?
I don't understand.
Sorry, it's just frustrating.
I can sense, I can sense.
I can sense the frustration.
And I know this is also personal for you,
not just as a doctor, but from a family perspective.
Do you mind sharing just a little bit
about how this has touched your family,
and what you went through personally?
My father, who was an OB-GYN as well,
passed away a month and a half ago from COVID-19.
And he was touched by misinformation.
And I cannot speak for him.
Sadly, I cannot ask him anymore.
But I remember him being afraid of the vaccine,
and saying how it could maybe hurt his DNA or something.
And I never understood it.
Maybe it was a political thing.
What I know is that the week before he was admitted,
he refused one of the experimental drugs for COVID-19.
So if he could hear me,
I am proud of him for that because he stuck to his guns.
He didn't believe in the vaccine,
and he didn't believe in the treatment, and he passed away.
It's really frustrating to me and very sad.
And I'm not gonna cry on live air, but it's very sad.
And I wish I could have done something.
I just want to tell people who are not getting vaccinated
to please talk to their own doctors,
to ask the real information, to ask their family members,
because we are the ones left behind
when they die of COVID-19.
We are the ones, like I mentioned, rollercoaster?
I, as a doctor, didn't even know how crazy this virus is.
I had days where I would wake up,
and one time a call was your father had a cardiac arrest.
He's okay, we brought him back.
And of course, I'm crying in that morning.
And then in the evening, this is just one day.
A few hours later, the doctor calls me.
I have no idea how his pulmonary status
has improved so much, and it was like a miracle.
And then the next day, nevermind.
He didn't improve as we wanted him to improve now.
Now he's actually worse.
And then, oh, oh yes, he's better.
It was day and night.
From the 6:00 a.m. call to the 6:00 p.m. call,
it was day and night sometimes.
So I just, I don't wish that on anyone.
And if you're out there and you're unsure,
talk to your doctors.
And if you're unsure and you want to trust me,
who has lived through this, get your vaccine.
mRNA, not the Johnson and Johnson.
Honestly, the mRNA vaccines.
And if you haven't gotten your booster
and you qualify for it, go for it as well.
I've had people hesitating for the booster.
I'm like, the more boosters the better for me.
I want to be covered, and my family.
So I can't wait for my children to be able to be vaccinated.
The first thing I'm gonna do is plan a Disney trip,
as soon as they get vaccinated.
When "Facing" returns, it's been three and a half months
since protestors took to the streets
demanding change in Cuba.
So what exactly has changed?
We talk to a local activist
about what still needs to be done, ahead.