A study proves that COVID-19 vaccine shedding causes menstrual cycle changes in unvaccinated women
The False Narrative
A December 2024 study proves that unvaccinated women can experience menstrual cycle changes by being in close proximity to people who have received COVID-19 vaccines, due to the vaccinated “shedding” the vaccines onto others.
The Facts
In fact, it is biologically impossible for unvaccinated women’s menstrual cycles to be affected by being around a person who received a COVID-19 vaccine, according to health experts. The study cited to back the false narrative was based solely on responses to an anti-vaccine organization’s online survey.
Health experts have also repeatedly stated that people who have received COVID-19 vaccines cannot “shed” components of the vaccine onto other people because the COVID vaccines in use in the U.S., Europe, Australia, or New Zealand do not contain a live virus.
Dr. Jen Gunter, a Canadian OB-GYN and author, said in an April 2021 post on her Substack blog that none of the COVID vaccines “can possibly affect a person who has not been vaccinated, and this includes their menstruation, fertility, and pregnancy.” She added: “No, the COVID-19 vaccine is not capable of exerting reproductive control via proxy. Nothing is.”
Similarly, Emily Martin, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Michigan, told The New York Times in April 2021: “Transferring anything from the [COVID] vaccine from one person to another is not possible. It’s just not biologically possible.”
The false narrative originated with a Dec. 7, 2024, study published in the anti-vaccine publication the International Journal of Vaccine Theory, Practice, and Research. Its authors included researchers from Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine nonprofit that NewsGuard has found to have repeatedly published false or egregiously misleading content.
The study concluded, “Indirect exposure to COVID-19 vaccinated persons was significantly associated with the likelihood of the onset of menstrual irregularities.” However, the study based this conclusion on 3,300 responses to an online survey collected through a website called MyCycleStory.com, which says it was created “in partnership” with Children’s Health Defense. The study did not mention how or whether any of the survey responses were verified as being accurate.
How the False Narrative Emerged
As noted above, the narrative emerged with the study published by the International Journal of Vaccine Theory, Practice, and Research on Dec. 7, 2024.
Where the False Narrative Spread
The false narrative began spreading on platforms such as X, Reddit, and Substack on Dec. 9, 2024, as well as on websites that NewsGuard has found to have repeatedly published false or egregiously misleading claims, such as VigilantNews.com, LewRockwell.com, and Infowars.com.
For example, in a Dec. 9, 2024, X post to his 525,000 followers, Dr. Pierre Kory president of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance — a group that advocates for unproven treatments for the COVID-19 virus – said of the study: “The most puzzling thing we've seen with the vaccine is its ability to ‘shed’ and harm those who never got it. A peer-reviewed study just validated the thousands of shedding reports sent to us.”
The post, which generated 834,000 views and 10,000 likes in one day, linked to an article about the study from Kory’s Substack newsletter, which has 96,000 subscribers.
By John Gregory