Covid-19 Vaccine Leads To Infertility In men? New Study Dispels Concerns, Finds No Evidence On Sperm Count Decrease

The research was carried out on 45 healthy volunteers aged 18 to 50, who were expected to get the Pfizer or Moderna dose, according to the study published in JAMA Network.

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New Delhi: There were several concerns around vaccination, and one of them being infertility concerns in men. However, researchers at the University of Miami have dispelled concerns through a study conducted to assess men’s fertility after vaccination and didn’t find any negative effects on their sperm.

What are the findings?

The research was conducted between Dec 17, 2020 and Jan. 12, 2021. The research was carried out on 45 healthy volunteers aged 18 to 50, who were expected to get the Pfizer or Moderna dose, according to the study published in JAMA Network.

Before the study was undertaken, the participants were prescreened to ensure there are no previous or underlying fertility issues. Semen samples were collected before the first vaccine dose and approximately 70 days after the second. This is the usual time taken for the sperm to regenerate.

The researchers carefully studied the semen volume, sperm concentration, sperm motility and total sperm count. The study concluded there was no significant decrease in any of these parameters compared with the samples taken before the Covid-19 shots.

“It was an unknown area that was making guys nervous to get the vaccine,” said study co-author Jesse Ory, urology fellow in infertility/andrology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Although the sample size was less, the results were in line with the expectation of the result. As per the study, eight participants who had exhibited low sperm counts before the vaccination went on to record normal levels of sperm in their second sample.

However the researcher clarified that the vaccine however didn’t increase the sperm. “But even in guys who have low sperm count who may be worried about their fertility, they don’t need to worry that this vaccine will impact their fertility any further,” said Ory.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have also insisted that there is no evidence that any vaccines, including the ones against Covid-19, cause male or female infertility. On fertility studies published on its website, the agency only looked at females and pregnancy outcomes. It’s the University of Miami study to have conducted at Covid-19 vaccines and sperm count, as per the researcher.