New Delhi: People are asking whether it is safe to have sex after getting the COVID vaccine.
While the Health Ministry has not issued any formal guidelines about it, health experts asked people to use contraceptives after receiving the second dose. The volunteers who have participated in Phase III clinical trials of Covaxin have been cautioned by the health experts to use a condom before having sex for three months, ZeeNews reported.
The recruitment criteria for male volunteers with reproductive potentials advised, “Use of condoms to ensure effective contraception with the female partner and to refrain from sperm donation from first vaccination until at least 3 months after the last vaccination.”
However, this triggered a debate – shouldn’t the caution to use contraceptives be extended to all those individuals who have been covered under the current government vaccination drive?
Medical experts believe that the condition under clinical trial to use a condom for sex after vaccination is self-explanatory that there could be an adverse effect that is not known on the foetus or fertilisation process, the report added.
Dr Deepak Verma, internal medicine, Columbia Asia Hospital, Ghaziabad, told indianexpress.com that SARS-CoV2 is a novel virus and the vaccine has been developed to neutralise it. However, it is too early to say whether there are any long-term side effects of the vaccine and whether they affect a man and a woman if they have intercourse.
The doctor, however, emphasised that in the current situation, “prevention is the best safeguard”. “It will be advisable for men and women to use contraceptives such as condoms for at least 2 to 3 weeks after receiving the second dose. This is because during sex the body fluids come in contact.”
“Since we do not know how vaccines impact us, using a condom will be the best and most cost-effective prevention,” he added. He also advised that women eligible for the vaccine should consult a gynaecologist before getting inoculated.
