Abstract: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 on… Show more
“…There were no significant effects on the other parameters such as semen volume, pH or sperm concentration morphology. Our data are in agreement with previous reports that reported no significant deleterious effects of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines on semen parameters [12][13][14]16]. Barda et al [16] found that total sperm count and total motile count increased after the second vaccine compared to samples before vaccination in a cohort of 33 healthy donors.…”
Section: Discussionsupporting
confidence: 93%
“…Barda et al [16] found that total sperm count and total motile count increased after the second vaccine compared to samples before vaccination in a cohort of 33 healthy donors. Sperm motility did not change after the vaccine [16]. In Lifshitz et al [14] study, none of the vaccinated men produced abnormal results apart from two participants (2 out of 75), one oligozoospermic, and one with reduced motility.…”
Background
The possible effects of COVID-19 vaccines on reproductive health and male fertility in particular have been discussed intensely by the scientific community and the public since their introduction during the pandemic. On news outlets and social media platforms, many claims have been raised regarding the deleterious effects of COVID-19 vaccines on sperm quality without scientific evidence. In response to this emerging conflict, we designed this study to evaluate and assess the effect of the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine on male fertility represented by the semen analysis parameters.
Results
Comparing the semen parameters of the participants before and after vaccination, no statistically significant effects on semen volume, pH or normal sperm concentration and morphology were shown. However, there were statistically significant differences on total sperm motility (P = 0.05) and progressive motility (P = 0.02). These differences are clinically insignificant given the fact that both readings before and after vaccination were within the normal ranges, according to the WHO manual guidelines for the examination and processing of human semen.
Conclusion
Our data suggest that the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine has no deleterious effects on semen parameters.
“…There were no significant effects on the other parameters such as semen volume, pH or sperm concentration morphology. Our data are in agreement with previous reports that reported no significant deleterious effects of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines on semen parameters [12][13][14]16]. Barda et al [16] found that total sperm count and total motile count increased after the second vaccine compared to samples before vaccination in a cohort of 33 healthy donors.…”
Section: Discussionsupporting
confidence: 93%
“…Barda et al [16] found that total sperm count and total motile count increased after the second vaccine compared to samples before vaccination in a cohort of 33 healthy donors. Sperm motility did not change after the vaccine [16]. In Lifshitz et al [14] study, none of the vaccinated men produced abnormal results apart from two participants (2 out of 75), one oligozoospermic, and one with reduced motility.…”
Background
The possible effects of COVID-19 vaccines on reproductive health and male fertility in particular have been discussed intensely by the scientific community and the public since their introduction during the pandemic. On news outlets and social media platforms, many claims have been raised regarding the deleterious effects of COVID-19 vaccines on sperm quality without scientific evidence. In response to this emerging conflict, we designed this study to evaluate and assess the effect of the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine on male fertility represented by the semen analysis parameters.
Results
Comparing the semen parameters of the participants before and after vaccination, no statistically significant effects on semen volume, pH or normal sperm concentration and morphology were shown. However, there were statistically significant differences on total sperm motility (P = 0.05) and progressive motility (P = 0.02). These differences are clinically insignificant given the fact that both readings before and after vaccination were within the normal ranges, according to the WHO manual guidelines for the examination and processing of human semen.
Conclusion
Our data suggest that the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 vaccine has no deleterious effects on semen parameters.
“…After the screening process, 39 articles were considered pertinent for potential inclusion and the full texts were retrieved. Finally, 29 articles [1] , [2] , [3] , [4] , [6] , [7] , [8] , [10] , [15] , [17] , [18] , [20] ; Gonzalez et al, 2021; Huang et al, 2022; Jacobs et al, 2022; Lifshitz et al, 2022; Mohr-Sasson et al, 2022; Morris, 2021; Morris et al, 2021; Odeh‐Natour et al, 2022; Orvieto et al, 2021; Reschini et al, 2022; Rozhivanov & Mokrysheva, 2021; Safrai, Herzberg, et al, 2022; Safrai, Kremer, et al, 2022; Soysal & Yılmaz, 2022; Wesselink et al, 2022; Xia et al, 2022; Zhu et al, 2022)were included in the systematic review and 20 articles [2] , [3] , [4] , [6] , [7] , [18] , [20] ; Gonzalez et al, 2021; Huang et al, 2022; Jacobs et al, 2022; Morris, 2021; Odeh‐Natour et al, 2022; Orvieto et al, 2021; Reschini et al, 2022; Rozhivanov & Mokrysheva, 2021; Safrai, Herzberg, et al, 2022; Safrai, Kremer, et al, 2022; Soysal & Yılmaz, 2022; Xia et al, 2022; Zhu et al, 2022) in the meta-analysis ( Figure 1 ). Figure 1 Flowchart of the screening and selection process …”
“… 14 Previous reassuring publications were mainly based on single pre‐ and single‐post‐vaccination samples per participant. 16 , 17 , 24 , 25 Safrai et al. investigated pre and post‐vaccination semen samples of 72 patients undergoing IVF treatments.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…There have been few studies regarding the impact of COVID‐19 vaccine of semen parameters, resulting with overall reassuring results, some even reported parameters improvements post‐vaccination. 15 , 16 , 17 However, careful examination raises two questions. First, is there a biological rationale for semen parameters improvement post‐vaccination?…”
Background: The development of covid-19 vaccinations represents a notable scientific achievement. Nevertheless, concerns have been raised regarding their possible detrimental impact on male fertility Objective: To investigate the effect of covid-19 BNT162b2 (Pfizer) vaccine on semen parameters among semen donors (SD). Methods: Thirty-seven SD from three sperm banks that provided 216 samples were included in that retrospective longitudinal multicenter cohort study. BNT162b2 vaccination included two doses, and vaccination completion was scheduled 7 days after the second dose. The study included four phases: T0 -pre-vaccination baseline control, which encompassed 1-2 initial samples per SD; T1, T2 and T3 -short, intermediate, and long terms evaluations, respectively. Each included 1-3 semen samples per donor provided 15-45, 75-125 and over 145 days after vaccination completion, respectively. The primary endpoints were semen parameters. Three statistical analyses were conducted: (1) generalized estimated equation model; (2) first sample and (3) samples' mean of each donor per period were compared to T0. Results: Repetitive measurements revealed −15.4% sperm concentration decrease on T2 (CI −25.5%-3.9%, p = 0.01) leading to total motile count 22.1% reduction (CI −35% -−6.6%, p = 0.007) compared to T0. Similarly, analysis of first semen sample only and samples' mean per donor resulted in concentration and total motile count (TMC) reductions on T2 compared to T0 -median decline of 12 million/ml and 31.2 million motile spermatozoa, respectively (p = 0.02 and 0.002 respectively) on first sample evaluation and median decline of 9.5 × 10 6 and 27.3 million motile spermatozoa (p = 0.004 and 0.003, respectively) on samples' mean examination. T3 evaluation demonstrated overall recovery without. Semen volume and sperm motility were not impaired.Discussion: This longitudinal study focused on SD demonstrates selective temporary sperm concentration and TMC deterioration 3 months after vaccination followed by later recovery verified by diverse statistical analyses.
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