Women have been hit harder by the side effects of Covid-19 vaccines, even though the disease is deadlier in men.
What's going on? trib.al/kWS0rju
Some women have experienced unusual changes in their menstrual cycles after taking the Covid-19 vaccine.
🩸Reports of early and unusually heavy periods or other irregularities were becoming so common that an anthropologist started collecting them trib.al/kWS0rju
After the Covid-19 vaccine, women:
💉Make up nearly all of the small number who had a severe allergic reaction
💉Are more likely to suffer severe rashes
22 of the 28 people who got blood clots possibly associated with the J&J vaccine were female trib.al/kWS0rju
All the women who had blood clots following the J&J shot were between 18 and 48.
Doctors are discussing if women of reproductive age should be advised to avoid it in favor of the other approved Covid vaccines — but nobody is studying it trib.al/kWS0rju
A Johns Hopkins University immunologist said it should be studied whether the other Covid-19 side effects are more common only in women of reproductive age or across all age groups trib.al/kWS0rju
Some people have tried to dismiss the blood clot problem by saying birth control pills are also associated with blood clot risk.
But more work should be done to prevent women from getting blood clots associated with birth control pills, too trib.al/kWS0rju
Sex differences matter in responses to Covid vaccines and need more study.
Women are more likely to report mild or moderate side effects, and much more likely to suffer the severe ones trib.al/kWS0rju
The main source of public information on vaccine side effects is a website called the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System, but:
➡️The information can be misleading
➡️The website is going to miss anything people don’t go to the trouble of reporting trib.al/kWS0rju
A failure to systematically study vaccine side effects could contribute to vaccine skepticism.
Women have been quicker to get vaccinated — but they are also more likely to express concern over the side effects trib.al/kWS0rju
It’s possible to collect huge amounts of safety and Covid vaccine side effect data.
Public trust is critical — but the CDC, the doctors and public health experts and could do more to earn it trib.al/kWS0rju
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