Despite anti-vaccine activists’ claims that they are no different from those who claimed that vaccines cause autism, the COVID-19 vaccine can affect the fertility of women or their male partners who received Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna. It does not affect your chances of becoming pregnant per menstrual cycle. Or the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Instead, prospective studies indicate that COVID-19 infection in men may temporarily reduce fertility. This is an outcome that can be avoided through vaccination.
Senior author Amelia Wesselink, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at the Boston University School of Public Health, and colleagues analyzed survey data on COVID-19 vaccination, infection, and fertility among female and male participants in the BUSPH-Based Pregnancy Study Online (PRESTO). . It is an NIH-funded study that enrolls women trying to get pregnant and follows them from before conception until six months after birth. Participants included 2,126 women in the United States and Canada who provided information about their sociodemographics, lifestyle, medical factors, and partner characteristics from December 2020 to September 2021. Participants were eligible to remain in the study until November 2021. Follow-up was observed.
The researchers used the participants’ last menstrual period, typical menstrual cycle length, and self-reported date of pregnancy status to calculate the probability of pregnancy by menstrual cycle. Fertility rates among female participants who had received at least one dose of the vaccine were nearly identical to those who had not been vaccinated. Fertility was also similar for male partners who had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine compared to unvaccinated male participants. Additional analyzes that took into account number of vaccinations, vaccine brand, history of infertility, occupation, and geographic region also found no effect of vaccination on fertility.
Although COVID-19 infection is not strongly associated with fertility, men who tested positive within 60 days of a given cycle had reduced fertility compared to men who did not test positive or men who tested positive at least 60 days before. These data support previous research linking poor sperm quality and other reproductive dysfunction with COVID-19 infection in men.
“These data provide compelling evidence that vaccination of one partner against COVID does not affect fertility in couples trying to conceive,” said Dr. Lauren Wise, professor of epidemiology at BUSPH. “The prospective study design, large sample size, and geographically heterogeneous study population are strengths of the study, as is control for many variables such as age, socioeconomic status, pre-existing health conditions, occupation, and stress levels.”
The new data also helps calm concerns about COVID-19 vaccines and fertility that have arisen from anecdotal reports of women experiencing changes in their menstrual cycles after receiving the vaccine.
