A NUMBER of women in South Korea are complaining about menstrual problems as well as inter-menstrual bleeding, after receiving Covid-19 vaccines.
Following the complaints, health authorities have pledged to step up monitoring to determine if there is a link between the health problems and the vaccines.
The Korea Times reports that a woman posted a petition on the Cheong Wa Dae presidential website on Tuesday, calling on authorities to include menstrual-related problems as possible side effects of the vaccines so that they will be eligible for government support.
She wrote that there were many cases of women experiencing irregular menstrual bleeding after getting the vaccine shots.
"But when they visit hospitals, they are only prescribed with contraceptive pills or advised to take Tylenol, and are unable to report this as an adverse reaction to the vaccine," she said in the petition.
"If the symptoms which many women are experiencing are ignored, it means the government and the medical community are not paying attention to the pain being suffered by half of humanity," she added.
The Times said there have been a number of online posts by South Korean women experiencing symptoms such as metrorrhagia - uterine bleeding - and polymenorrhea - shortened menstrual cycles - following Covid-19 vaccinations.
Some cases have also been reported overseas, including a vaccinated woman who started menstruating again after menopause.
Meanwhile, Cho Eun-hee, an official from the Covid-19 Vaccination Damage Investigation Team, said there were no official reports on the link between them, either domestically or abroad.
"But we are collecting data and we will make an announcement as soon as possible if any connection is found."
Cho said the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did not receive any reports on menstruation irregularities during clinical trials of the Pfizer and Janssen vaccines.
She said health authorities in Europe, including the United Kingdom and Germany, have also not suggested any links between Covid-19 vaccines and metrorrhagia, menorrhagia -menstrual bleeding - lasting more than a week, and post-menopausal bleeding.
"The European Medicines Agency reported cases of menstrual disorders, but said it would monitor various physical changes in women and other signs of menstruation because there may be other reasons for the symptoms such as stress," Cho said.
Meanwhile, Yonhap news reports that South Korea's daily new Covid-19 cases fell back below 2,000 on Thursday, as the country considers revised social distancing guidelines that may include allowing family gatherings during the Chuseok holiday.
There were 1,961 cases, raising the total caseload to 255,401, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
Daily cases have stayed above 1,000 for 58 consecutive days.
There were 11 more deaths, bringing the death toll now to 2,303.
Health authorities believe the social distancing rules in the greater Seoul area and other major cities were working and it has helped to bring down the number of cases.
However, they remain wary of more contagious strains such as the Delta variant, which could spread across the country during the upcoming Chuseok holiday.
The Chuseok is the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving, when millions of people travel to visit their relatives.
The report said that according to the KDCA, of the 3,455 variant cases recorded over the Aug 22 to 28 period, the Delta strain accounted for 99.2 per cent.
More than 29 million people, or 57 per cent of the population, have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccines in South Korea, with 16.2 million people, or 31.7 per cent, receiving both doses.
Authorities hope to inoculate 70 per cent of the population with at least one dose by the end of this month, to create herd immunity in November, but the country is now facing supply delays of the Moderna vaccine.