Effect of COVID-19 vaccination on the timing and flow of menstrual periods in two cohorts

Abstract

COVID-19 vaccination protects against the potentially serious consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection, but some people have been hesitant to receive the vaccine because of reports that it could affect menstrual bleeding. To determine whether this occurs we prospectively recruited a cohort of 79 individuals, each of whom recorded details of at least three consecutive menstrual cycles, during which time they each received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. In spontaneously cycling participants, COVID-19 vaccination was associated with a delay to the next period, but this change reversed in subsequent unvaccinated cycles. No delay was detected in those taking hormonal contraception. To explore hypotheses about the mechanism by which these menstrual changes occur, we retrospectively recruited a larger cohort, of 1,273 people who had kept a record of their menstrual cycle and vaccination dates. In this cohort, we found a trend toward use of combined hormonal contraception being protective against reporting a delayed period, suggesting that menstrual changes following vaccination may be mediated by perturbations to ovarian hormones. However, we were unable to detect a clear association between the timing of vaccination within the menstrual cycle and reports of menstrual changes. Our findings suggest that COVID-19 vaccination can lengthen the menstrual cycle and that this effect may be mediated by ovarian hormones. Importantly, we find that the menstrual cycle returns to its pre-vaccination length in unvaccinated cycles.