Johannesburg – Side effects from the Covid-19 vaccines are largely those similar to flu and headaches and are said to last up to three days.
But more and more women locally and abroad are also reporting various changes to their menstrual cycle. However. Medical experts have assured that this is short lived and usually sorts itself out within three month. They also stress that it doesn’t affect fertility.
Most women are taking to social media to report their “weird” symptoms.
Some are reporting their periods coming on ten to 15 days earlier than expected, other are reporting that their flow is heavier and more painful than usual. While others are noticing breakthrough bleeding or delayed periods.
The Chicago Tribune confirmed that their National Institutes of Health awarded funding to five institutions namely Boston University, Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University, Michigan State University and Oregon Health and Science University, to study if there are any causal links resulting from Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccines and the menstrual cycle and why the changes were happening.
Experts funding the study said that while there is no conclusion it is possible that the various vaccines causes disruptions in the monthly cycle – because it generates an immune response in the body and immune cells are everywhere including the endometrial lining.
A survey was also launched in April at Washington University by women, Kathryn Clancy, an associate professor and Katharine Lee, a postdoctoral research scholar, who initated the survey based on their own “abnormal” experiences.
Clancy posted a twitter thread detailing her own changes afyter taking a Moderna jab and hundreds of women responded with similar experiences.
They also reported that their survey already garnered 150 000 respondents thus far.
“I would say it reinforces our hypotheses that this vaccine triggers a huge immune response, and the associated inflammatory processes that lead to things like the fever or the fatigue, some of those cellular physiological processes are likely impacting the inflammatory processes that regulate menstrual cycles in some people who are getting the vaccine,” said Lee.
They also stated that there was a huge gender gap in the medical research of the Covid-19 vaccine side effects.
Reuters reports that the European Medicines Agency said its safety committee had studied cases of menstrual disorders reported after vaccination, adding it had requested more data from vaccine developers to assess the issue.
The EMA also stated that menstrual disorders can occur for various reasons, from stress and tiredness to underlying medical conditions such as fibroids and endometriosis.
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