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covid 19: Covid-19 vaccines don't affect fertility, study asserts

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WASHINGTON: A recent study has quashed rumours that Covid-19 vaccination leads to infertility. The study published in the 'American Journal of Epidemiology' asserts that Covid-19 vaccination does not appear to affect fertility. The prospective study of couples trying to conceive found no association between Covid-19 vaccination and fecundability -- the probability of conception per menstrual cycle -- in female or male partners who received the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson vaccines. In contrast, the findings indicated that Covid-19 infection among males may temporarily reduce fertility -- an outcome that could be avoidable through vaccination. "Many reproductive-aged individuals have cited concerns about fertility as a reason for remaining unvaccinated," said study lead author Dr Amelia Wesselink, research assistant professor of epidemiology at BUSPH. "Our study shows for the first time that Covid-19 vaccination in either partner is unrel...

Omicron can evade protection offered by Covid vaccines, antibody therapies: Study

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WASHINGTON: Omicron can evade the immune protection conferred by Covid-19 vaccines and natural infection, according to a peer-reviewed study which also suggests that the new variant of coronavirus is completely resistant to antibody therapies in use today. The study, published in the journal Nature on Thursday, also highlights the need for new vaccines and treatments that anticipate how the SARS-CoV-2 virus may soon evolve. The researchers from Columbia University in the US and the University of Hong Kong noted that a striking feature of Omicron is the alarming number of changes in the variant's spike protein that could pose a threat to the effectiveness of current vaccines and therapeutic antibodies. The study tested the ability of antibodies generated by vaccination to neutralise Omicron in laboratory tests that pitted antibodies against live viruses and against pseudoviruses constructed in the lab to mimic the variant. The researchers found that the antibodies from people do...