One of the countless COVID-19 plots that persist is that vaccination against the disease causes infertility – in both men and women – despite scientific evidence proving it does not. Lebogang Maile, Gauteng’s MEC for Human Settlements, slammed those peddling this myth on social media on Wednesday, August 4. However, the coronavirus itself could cause erectile dysfunction and infertility.

THE COURIER PUT RIGHT ON CONSPIRATORY VACCINALS

Men’s Clinic – the leading clinic that offers male sexual health services – received an unexpected promotion on Wednesday, when Maile mentioned them in a comment. The politician referred to rumors that vaccination leads to erectile dysfunction or infertility in a tweet.

“Comrades, let’s stop blaming vaccination for problems that don’t increase when the problems never initially increased,” Maile said.

Maile added that the vaccine’s job is not to correct “pre-existing conditions.” Instead, “these questions should be referred to the men’s clinic for strong engagement and recommendations.”

In her joke, Maile may have focused on erectile dysfunction in particular; however, a recent study conducted in the United States found that vaccination does not have a negative impact on male infertility.

The researchers, including a pair of urologists Daniel Nassau and Ranjith Ramasamy, examined the semen of 45 men before and after receiving a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine and found no negative impact.

“We found no evidence to suggest negative effects of a COVID vaccine on semen among the men in our study,” Nassau told a German outlet. DW.

The study, Semen parameters before and after COVID-19 mRNA vaccination, also found that the coronavirus affects sperm production, fertility and can lead to erectile dysfunction.

“An analysis of penile tissue from two men receiving penile implants showed the virus to be present seven to nine months after their diagnosis of COVID-19,” Ramasamy wrote in a The conversation article on the study.

“Both men had developed severe erectile dysfunction, possibly because the infection reduced blood supply to the penis.

“Notably, one of the men had only mild symptoms of COVID-19. The other had been hospitalized. This suggests that even those with a relatively mild case of the virus can suffer from severe erectile dysfunction after recovery, ”Ramasamy said.

Nassau and Ramasamy said the results are not entirely surprising as other viruses such as Zika virus invade the testes and affect sperm production and fertility.

“The risk of infertility and erectile dysfunction increases with the severity of an infection,” Nassau told DW. “I strongly advise all men to get vaccinated. “

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