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Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine does not affect semen, a one-of-a-kind Israeli study concluded, reassuring couples around the world trying to conceive.
Dr Myriam Safrai of Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem analyzed the semen of 72 men before and after vaccination and found that there was no noticeable change in number or quality. His results were true whether the men had a normal sperm pre-vaccination or faced problems with low sperm count or poor motility.
“Some people fear that vaccines will harm semen, but this study calms the fear,” Safrai told The Times of Israel. “And given that there is research showing that COVID-19 harms sperm 25% to 30% of cases, it is clear that men who want to conceive should be vaccinated.”
Safrai’s research suggests inaccurate rumors of sperm-harming vaccines discourage some men. She is a fertility doctor in Hadassah’s IVF department and has found that while among the Israeli population, 71% to 85% of men in the age group she serves are vaccinated, among her IVF couples, the figure is 58%.
“We are finding that this population is less accepting of the vaccine, which we suspect is due to the fear that it will harm sperm,” Safrai said.
The study, which is available online but not yet peer-reviewed, analyzed semen samples available because the men were involved in IVF treatment before and after the vaccination.
Illustrative image: A lab in an IVF clinic (AP Photo / Richard Drew)
Some men have normal sperm and undergo IVF just because their partner is having fertility issues. Others have problems with their semen.
A smaller study of 45 men, published in June, found that there were no significant changes in sperm and observed: “Because vaccines contain mRNA and not live virus, it The vaccine is unlikely to affect semen parameters. But there were only eight men with low sperm counts among the subjects in this study.
Safrai said his was the first study to show a wide range of starting sperm numbers and qualities, and it was a significant undertaking. This is because research showing that men with normal sperm are unaffected fails to reassure some men who have problems with their sperm, and fear that a vaccine will intensify them.
“When we looked at the group as a whole, there was no difference in semen before and after the vaccination, and the same was true when we looked at either only normal sperm or only altered sperm,” she commented.
“What we understand is that the virus can enter the testes and harm sperm, but there is no negative impact from the vaccine. Just as women trying to conceive are encouraged to be vaccinated for a healthy pregnancy, men who are trying to conceive should get vaccinated to protect their sperm.
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