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The impact of COVID ‐19 vaccine on sperm quality
Author(s) -
Barda Shimi,
Laskov Ido,
Grisaru Dan,
Lehavi Ofer,
Kleiman Sandra,
Wenkert Atalia,
Azem Foad,
Hauser Ron,
Michaan Nadav
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
international journal of gynecology and obstetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.895
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1879-3479
pISSN - 0020-7292
DOI - 10.1002/ijgo.14135
Subject(s) - sperm , medicine , sperm quality , vaccination , sperm motility , andrology , sperm bank , immunology , fertility , population , environmental health
Objective To examine the effect of the BNT162b, mRNA, SARS‐CoV‐2 virus vaccine on sperm quality. Methods This was a prospective cohort study conducted on sperm donors at the sperm bank of a tertiary, university affiliated medical center. All sperm donors donated sperm repeatedly and the average sperm parameters of all available samples were compared before and after receiving the SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccine. Each donor served as his own control. For all participants, at‐least one sperm sample was received 72 days after completing the second vaccine. Main outcome measures included total sperm count, total motile count and percent of motile sperm. Results A total of 898 sperm samples from 33 sperm donors that were vaccinated with the Pfizer BNT162b, mRNA, SARS‐CoV‐2 virus vaccine were analyzed, 425 samples were received before the vaccine, while 473 samples were received after vaccination. Total sperm count and total motile count increased after the second vaccine compared to samples before vaccination. Percent of motile sperm did not change after vaccine. Conclusion The Pfizer BNT162b, SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccine has no deleterious effect on sperm quality. Patients and physicians should be counseled accordingly.