News Scan for Jan 21, 2022

No reduced fertility with COVID vaccines, but infection ups risk in menA cohort study of more than 2,000 US and Canadian women indicates that COVID-19 vaccination does not impair fertility—but men who become infected with SARS-CoV-2 may experience short-term reduced fertility, according to surveys of the women's partners.In the study, published yesterday in the American Journal of Epidemiology, Boston University (BU) researchers analyzed survey data on COVID-19 vaccination and infection, and fertility, among female and male participants in the Pregnancy Study Online (PRESTO), an ongoing study funded by the National Institutes of Health that enrolls women trying to conceive and follows them from before conception through 6 months after delivery.

Participants included 2,126 women in the United States and Canada who provided information on themselves and their male partners from December 2020 to September 2021.The investigators conducted follow-up through November 2021.The researchers calculated the per–menstrual cycle probability of conception using self-reported dates of participants' last period, typical menstrual cycle length, and pregnancy status.

They found that the fertility rates among female participants who received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine were nearly identical to unvaccinated female participants.

Fertility was likewise similar for male partners who had received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine compared with unvaccinated peers.In contrast, men who tested positive for COVID-19 within 60 days of a given cycle had reduced fertility compared with men who never tested positive or with men who tested positive at least 60 days prior.