This story appeared in Miami Herald. Read more here.
Pfizer and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines do not affect male fertility and should not impact men’s ability to have a family in the future, according to a new University of Miami Miller School of Medicine study.
The original clinical trials by Pfizer and Moderna did not evaluate the vaccines for reproductive toxicity, said Dr. Ranjith Ramasamy, associate professor and director of UM’s reproductive urology program, and the principal lead investigator of the study. Instead, those trials focused on whether the vaccines would be effective against COVID-19.
Ramasamy’s previous research found that the COVID-19 virus can affect male fertility and possibly cause erectile dysfunction.
But, because Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines do not carry the live virus and cannot give people COVID, Ramasamy’s team believed the shots would not impair fertility. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found no evidence that the vaccines can cause female or male fertility problems.
Yet, fertility concerns have become “one of the biggest reasons for vaccine hesitancy,” Ramasamy said. The CDC has said the vaccines are safe for women and men who are trying to conceive.