A widely shared article of The Gateway Pundit claims that “according to a recently released medical study, in a group of 37 sperm donors, over 220 samples collected, the impact of the mRNA COVID vaccine, BNT162b2 manufactured by Pfizer, caused men to decrease in experienced fertility of more than 20%. ”
The Gateway Pundit article (with the caption “Confirm: Pfizer’s COVID vaccine reduces sperm count in men, another adverse effect [sic] Or The Forced Vaccine Tyranny “) also claims that” in short, the Pfizer COVID vaccine actually reduces male fertility. “
The Gateway Pundit previously promoted it wrong information about the COVID-19 vaccine, such as the false claim that the COVID vaccine is linked to prion disease.
In an email to The shipping fact check, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesperson, Dr. John Su, said that “no unusual or unexpected patterns of decreased sperm count in men after immunization would indicate that COVID-19 vaccines cause or contribute to this condition.” Su added that the “CDC still recommends that everyone who qualifies should be vaccinated.”
The article fails to mention that the study only shows a temporary decrease in sperm count after vaccination, but does not show that the COVID vaccine reduces male fertility, as the article claims.
The Gateway Pundit references a study titled “Covid-19 vaccination BNT162b2 temporarily impairs semen concentration and total motile count among semen donors.” The Gateway Pundit claims that the study “showed a staggering decrease in male fertility, with an average decrease of 22.1% across the study group.”
The study itself is clear that the COVID-19 vaccine only temporarily reduces the sperm count, which it notes in the title of the study. The study also stressed that its findings should actually “support vaccination programs.” The relevant part of the study reads: “As incorrect information on health-related subjects poses a threat to public health, our findings should support vaccination programs. Further studies focusing on different vaccines and populations (eg subfertile patients).
The study was first published in the journal on June 17 Andrologythe “Joint publication of the European Academy of Andrology (EAA) and the American Society of Andrology (ASA)”And was peer-reviewed. In an email to The shipping fact checkStanley Perlman, professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Iowa, described the journal as “reliable” and said the study was misinterpreted by The Gateway Pundit.
Vincent Racaniello, professor of microbiology and immunology at Columbia University, noted that any vaccine or infection that leads to inflammation can temporarily reduce sperm count.
“Actually it [the study] shows that there is a decrease in sperm count after vaccination, but the sperm counts recover and the authors conclude that the effect is temporary, ”he noted. “The effect seems to be a result of inflammation that occurs after vaccination. It was previously known that inflammation does reduce sperm count. ”
The effect, Racaniello explained, does not just happen with the COVID vaccine: “Any vaccine or infection that leads to inflammation will have the same effect.”
The Gateway Pundit fails to note what the study makes clear: that the decrease in sperm count post-vaccination is temporary.
A Pfizer spokesman also said The shipping fact check by e-mail: “Numerous studies and actual evidence show that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine does not cause infertility. With more than one billion doses of the vaccine being administered around the world, the safety profile of the vaccine remains favorable for all authorized groups. ”
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