Numerous females reported fluctuations in their period after getting vaccinated for Covid-19. This has resulted in the U.S. National Institutes of Health assigning $1.67 million for the research on a potential connection.
New evidence from two studies on the topic shows data that suggests the period changes caused by covid vaccines are brief and minor in comparison to natural discrepancies in cycles.
Dr. Victoria Male, reproductive specialist at the Imperial College London evaluated the findings. The first study was conducted on data from 3,959 local females who had logged a minimum of six successive cycles on a period tracking app. 60.7% were vaccinated (2,403) and the remaining 39.3% (1,556) were considered the control group.
The first dose had no impact on the following period’s timing and the second dose was linked to a delay of 0.45 days in the period. 358 participants who received the two vaccination doses in the same period cycle were the most affected. They saw a delay of 2.32 days in the subsequent period. 11% of the participants in this group had a change of over 8 days in their following period, which is clinically significant. In comparison, the group not vaccinated had only 4% of such participants. However, both groups took two cycles post-vaccination to return to normal cycle length.
Another study was conducted on 5,688 Norwegian women. This study was used to evaluate if the participants had experienced any menstrual variations (like unexpected bleeding or abnormal period pain) pre and post-dose.
39% of the participants were notified of one or more changes after the first dose compared to cycles before vaccination. This number increased to 41% after the second dose. The most common change reported was a heavier period.
Dr. Male mentioned that according to the UK vaccination schedule, getting both vaccination doses in one cycle is not possible, which means the variation observed in the Norway and U.S. participants may not be applicable in the UK. She further adds that the same data from the period tracking app for UK users will likely clarify this point.
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) of the UK said that the evidence at hand is not sufficient to declare a connection between the vaccination and the period variations in the UK. MHRA also advised seeking usual clinical courses of action if any discrepancies are experienced.
Dr. Male claims that a lot of public concern regarding periods is due to an untrue piece of information that covid vaccines can result in infertility in females. She also mentions that there is evidence that the infertility claim is not true, there is also evidence of covid infections causing lower sperm quality and count, however, she believes that an in-depth understanding of both infection’s , and vaccination’s impact on fertility will result in an improved analysis of patients who show concern in the matter.
In conclusion, Dr. Male, “The widespread public interest in this topic highlights how pressing a concern this is for the public. It’s time we started listening to them.”
