Research Proves COVID Vaccines Don't Cause Infertility

New findings by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) investigators indicate that COVID-19 vaccination does not impair fertility—but males who become infected by the coronavirus may experience short-term reduced fertility, SciTechDaily reported.

Photo Insert: It was shown for the first time that COVID-19 vaccination in either partner is unrelated to fertility among couples trying to conceive through intercourse.

COVID-19 vaccination in either partner does not appear to affect fertility, according to new research led by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) investigators. Published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the prospective study of couples trying to conceive found no association between COVID-19 vaccination and fecundability—the probability of conception per menstrual cycle—in female or male partners who received the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

In contrast, the findings indicate that COVID-19 infection among males may temporarily reduce fertility—an outcome that could be avoidable through vaccination.

“Many reproductive-aged individuals have cited concerns about fertility as a reason for remaining unvaccinated,” says study lead author Dr. Amelia Wesselink, research assistant professor of epidemiology at BUSPH.

“Our study shows for the first time that COVID-19 vaccination in either partner is unrelated to fertility among couples trying to conceive through intercourse. Time-to-pregnancy was very similar regardless of vaccination status.”

Wesselink and colleagues analyzed survey data on COVID-19 vaccination and infection, and fecundability, among female and male participants in the BUSPH-based Pregnancy Study Online (PRESTO), an ongoing NIH-funded study that enrolls women trying to conceive and follows them from preconception through six months after delivery.

Participants included 2,126 women in the US and Canada who provided information on sociodemographics, lifestyle, medical factors, and characteristics of their partners from December 2020 to September 2021, and the participants were followed in the study through November 2021.

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