Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Covid Vaccines Can Briefly Impact Menstrual Cycle: Study
A new scientific study shows that vaccination can cause changes to the timing of menstruation. But it also shows the effects are temporary, more akin to a sore arm than a serious adverse event. "I think it's reassuring and also validating," says Dr. Alison Edelman, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Ore. who led the study. The work appeared Thursday in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology. Edelman and other experts stress that individuals should get vaccinated, because the risks from COVID-19 remain high. (Brumfiel, 6/1)
However, questions remain over the effect of vaccines on other menstrual symptoms, such as bleeding, and the researchers said the study faced a number of limitations, such as the selection of women not using hormonal contraception. Another was that they chose individuals with consistent normal period lengths. They were more likely to be white, college educated, with lower body mass than the average U.S. citizen and therefore not nationally representative. (Kay, 1/7)
In other updates on vaccine hesitancy—
Among white evangelicals, pushback against Covid-19 vaccines has remained stubbornly high, with polls in recent months suggesting between 30% and 40% refused to get vaccinated, the highest proportion among any religious group surveyed. So one group of researchers had an idea. Sociologists from Stanford and Columbia asked 1,765 unvaccinated, self-identified white Christians to watch a short video in which then-NIH Director Francis Collins — a white evangelical himself — answered questions about the safety and effectiveness of Covid vaccines. Participants also read an essay describing support for vaccination within the medical community. (Silberner, 1/7)
Gabrielle Maradiaga Panayotti is a Duke pediatrician who readily acknowledges that she can encourage teens to get vaccinated and give them all the reasons why she thinks they should, but the reality is that their peers are likely to have more influence. That’s why LATIN-19, an organization that Maradiaga Panayotti and other Duke health care workers founded at the start of the pandemic, is raising money to start a program through which teens can become vaccine ambassadors in Durham communities and get paid for it. (Blythe, 1/7)
