The Pandemic and The Periods

In today’s post-pandemic world, several women have been affected by COVID 19 and a larger proportion of them belonged to the rural areas of the country due to lack of sanitation and sanitizing.

Overall, over thirty million people were affected by the coronavirus in India and research revealed that most women and girls were at higher risk because they were poorer and lacked information and resources.

The main problem is that several women who got affected by the virus or got vaccinated noticed certain changes in their menstrual cycle. This led to panic, especially in the rural sides.

Common side effects noticed by women after receiving the vaccine were a change in the menstrual cycle and unexpected vaginal bleeding.

Even though there were huge commotions regarding the vaccine having side effects on the hormones and leading to a delay in the cycle, no evidence regarding the rumor that covid-19 vaccine leads to adverse effects in the fertility has been found. In clinical trials, unintended pregnancies occurred at similar rates in vaccinated and unvaccinated groups, hence proving to an extent that the vaccine did not cause any long term or fatal changes to the hormonal cycle and fertility rate of a woman.

MHRA, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, stated that there is no link between changes to the menstrual cycle and covid 19 vaccines since there was an equal number of cases wherein unvaccinated and vaccinated women experienced a delay in their menstrual cycle. Through a thorough analysis of these cases, it has also been found that even if there exists a minute connection, it is likely to be a result of the reaction of the immune system to the vaccination rather than an effect of a specific vaccine component.

The menstrual cycle can be affected by immune activation in response to various stimuli, including viral infection: in one study of menstruating women, around a quarter of those infected with SARS-CoV-2 experienced menstrual disruption.

Certain research state that some mechanisms linking the immune stimulation with the menstrual cycle can be certain influences of the immune system’s reaction on the hormones driving the menstrual cycle or effects mediated by the immune cells in the uterus lining which are involved in the build-up and breakdown of the tissue, leading to periods.

Another rumor causing hesitancy in getting the vaccine is that the vaccine could harm their chances of future pregnancy and cause other fatal side effects.

However, it is recommended that pregnant women get the COVID 19 vaccines as they are at a higher risk of getting severely ill if they get infected with the virus as, pregnant people who get the virus are more likely to get admitted into intensive care and their health can deteriorate further as well. Pregnant women who got the vaccines had a remarkably similar pregnancy outcome to pregnant women before the pandemic.

In conclusion, vaccines cannot have any long-term effect on fertility, pregnancy, or the menstrual cycle of a woman. Even if the woman does experience any changes in her cycle, it is just a hormonal change caused due to the immune system’s response to the vaccine and is natural.