Recent reports appear to confirm that Covid-19 vaccines may affect periods - but is this a concern?

Over 30,000 women in the United Kingdom have reported that the Covid-10 vaccine has disrupted their menstrual cycle*. The most common complaint is of a somewhat altered cycle in which changes are short-lived. However, this is finally being investigated by researchers, with the National Institute of Health in the United States investing nearly $2 million USD to research the underlying cause.

It is a well-known and frequent observation that immune responses to various vaccines can sometimes cause periods to be heavier or delayed.

The issue is that the vaccines, like most medications developed around the world, were not thoroughly and adequately tested on women. Because of this gap in testing, data on the effects of menstruation is deficient. The takeaway message ought to be, all future clinical trials should include populations that include women.

The consensus is there is no reason to be concerned about menstrual changes and long-term impacts, with the vast majority of those voluntarily reporting menstrual changes post-vaccine, advise that normal menstruation quickly resumes. 

If you are trying to get pregnant or want to become pregnant, the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (which has taken a more active role in communicating with the public than Health Canada) officially states it is safe to get vaccinated.

We hope you and your family have been safe and healthy in the past year. Each of our staff and health professionals has been offered COVID-19 vaccines. Our goal is to do our part to collectively keep Canada, and the rest of the world, safe.

As always, we are here to help address any health concerns you may have. While you are here, don’t hesitate to review our COVID-19 faq page.

We look forward to seeing you and providing the highest level of care we have always strived to achieve.  

Total Wellness Staff

*vaccines in use in the UK and on which this report is based include Pfizer/BioNTech, Oxford University/AstraZeneca, Moderna