ORM COVID-19 Compassionate Care

• TELEHEALTH: We will continue to utilize video and teleconferencing for any appointments that do not require an ultrasound, bloodwork or a surgical procedure.
• COVID-19 SCREENING: Prior to entering an ORM clinic we ask that you complete a simple electronic COVID-19 health screening survey. You can find the link here.
• TEMPERATURE CHECKS: Upon entering the clinic one of our staff will take your temperature. Anyone with an elevated temperature will be asked to go home and their appointment will be rescheduled.
• FACEMASKS: Regardless of vaccination status, we ask that you bring your own facemask to any appointment at an ORM Fertility clinic.
• SOCIAL DISTANCING: We will be managing scheduling and patient flow to allow for social distancing. Appointment times have been adjusted to minimize the number of people in the clinic at any given time.

Effective Friday, August 20, 2021 Patients are allowed to bring one support person (over age 16) to the following appointments types only. The policy applies to all visitors including those who are fully vaccinated.

• 1 adult support person for  IUI, OB Ultrasound, Oocyte Retrieval, and Embryo Transfer
• 1 adult support person in the oocyte retrieval and embryo transfer room 
• When applicable, Gestational Carriers will be accompanied by the intended parent(s) in the embryo transfer room while the support person waits in the post-op room.
• Support persons are not allowed in the clinic for any monitoring appointments. This includes blood draws, monitoring ultrasounds (excluding OB ultrasounds), and semen collections.

All support persons must complete a separate questionnaire and wear a mask while within an ORM facility.

*Children (of any age) are still not permitted to accompany patients or visitors to ORM at this time.

All patients traveling to ORM from out of state or by air travel will be required to obtain a negative COVID test (rapid test preferred) and completion of the ORM COVID Questionnaire within 5 days of travel.

If travel is required here are some things to consider before you go:

• Wash your hands often
• Avoid touching your hands, eyes, and mouth
• Avoid close contact with others
• Wear a cloth face covering when you are in public
• For more information, you can review the Center For Disease Control (CDC) recommendations for travel.

Patients should have the opportunity to discuss the COVID-19 vaccine with their healthcare providers. The decision to receive a COVID-19 vaccine will need to be on an individual basis.

Unfortunately, pregnant women were not included in the clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the United States. The vaccines currently available under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in the United States were not tested in pregnant women prior to their approval. Pfizer and J&J have begun clinical trials including pregnant women.

The current information available for pregnant women who have received either the Moderna or the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines is very reassuring. Using v-safe, the CDC’s after vaccination health checker, just over 35,000 pregnant women have enrolled through February 18, 2021. Side effects and adverse events observed among pregnant individuals in v-safe did not differ from the general population. In 275 self-reported pregnancies, no unexpected pregnancy or infant outcomes were observed related to COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy. Safety monitoring is ongoing.

We must keep in mind that there is no zero-risk option for a pregnant woman – one needs to balance available data on vaccine safety, occupation and risk of exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, risks to pregnant patients from SARS-CoV-2 infection, and an individual’s risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 disease.

ORM Fertility agrees with and supports the recommendations of ASRM, ACOG, and the CDC that COVID-19 vaccines should be offered to all pregnant individuals.

We encourage you to discuss any questions or concerns regarding COVID-19 vaccination with your healthcare providers.

The Pfizer and Modera vaccines are mRNA vaccines- they contain no live virus or infectious material and do not use any adjuvants to enhance vaccine efficacy. These vaccines do not enter the cell nucleus and do not alter human DNA in vaccine recipients. mRNA vaccines have not been shown to cause any genetic changes. The mRNA vaccines do not contain any ingredients that are known to be harmful to pregnant women. Based on our current knowledge of mRNA vaccines, the theoretical risk of fetal harm from mRNA vaccines appears to be very low

J&J

The newest vaccine approved for emergency use (EUA) in the United States is the J&J COVID-19 vaccine. The J&J uses a modified, non-infectious adenovirus (Ad-26). The vaccine triggers an immune response against the spike protein of the Sars-CoV-2 virus. It is a single-dose vaccine. Like the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, there is no specific data for pregnancy. Studies from other Ad26-based vaccines in pregnancy are reassuring, but remain preliminary in nature.

Similar to the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, the J&J COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective in preventing moderate to severe disease and death.

Recently, the FDA paused the use of the J&J COVID-19 vaccine. After review, the J&J vaccine is again available for use in the United States. Women under the age of 50 should be aware there might be an increased risk of a rare blood-clotting syndrome associated with the J&J vaccine.

Common vaccine side effects may resemble a mild flu-like illness and typically resolve within 1-3 days. Vaccine recipients may experience local injection site pain, fatigue, fever and/or chills, headache, and muscle and joint pain. Patients experiencing a fever after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine may take acetaminophen.

We ask that all patients share their current vaccination status with ORM Fertility. If you are planning on be vaccinated, please check with your care team to be sure the timing will not interfere with your treatment.

If a patient experiences a fever or symptoms similar to COVID-19 following vaccination, they should contact ORM Fertility. You may be advised to delay an appointment and/or treatment.

If a patient is traveling to Portland from out of town for treatment, you should consider receiving the vaccination at least 3 days before your departure date to avoid side effects that might delay your ability to travel.

In men, Covid-19 infection has the potential to negatively influence the quality of a man’s sperm. Any high fever, severe illness, and/or a viral infection can cause a drop in the sperm count for up to 3 months. This could temporarily reduce a man’s fertility. Further study is needed.

Beginning, October 4, 2021, ORM Fertility will require all gestational carriers receive full COVID-19 vaccination before starting an embryo transfer treatment cycle.  

ORM Fertility strongly supports COVID-19 vaccinations amongst all patients, although it is currently only required for gestational carriers. 

On August 20, 2021, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine published a formal statement strongly recommending that all IVF programs require gestational carriers to be vaccinated against the COVID 19 virus before starting an embryo transfer treatment cycle. In agreement with these recommendations, we have updated our requirements to include full vaccination for gestational carriers. We will require that a copy of the vaccination record be entered into the surrogate’s ORM chart before she begins her treatment cycle.  The embryo transfer will not occur before 2 weeks after the second Moderna or Pfizer vaccine or two weeks after the single dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine.

• Wear a face mask in all public areas (regardless of vaccination status)
• Practice Social Distancing
• Continue hand and respiratory hygiene

Experts need to understand more about the protection that COVID-19 vaccines provide in real-world conditions before making that decision. Other factors, including how many people are vaccinated, new COVID-19 variants and how the virus is spreading in our community, will also affect this decision. In addition, it is uncertain how effective the current COVID-19 vaccines are in preventing the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to others.

While experts learn more about the protection that COVID-19 vaccines provide under real-life conditions, it will be important for everyone to continue using all the tools available to help stop this pandemic.

To protect yourself and others, follow these recommendations:

• Wear a mask over your nose and mouth
• Stay at least 6 feet away from others
• Avoid crowds
• Avoid poorly ventilated spaces
• Wash your hands often

While the currently available COVID-19 vaccines help protest against developing COVID-19, the vaccines do not completely prevent an individual from carrying the SARS-CoV-2 virus and/or being infectious. In addition, while the current vaccines appear extremely effective, they do not prevent 100% of all infections. The COVID-19 vaccine will not cross-react with the current COVID-19 antigen or PCR tests used to detect individuals infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.