Safe for women to take Covid-19 vaccine during period, no reason to postpone, says Centre's health expert

A woman reacts as she receives a dose of COVISHIELD, a coronavirus disease vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India, during the start of a four-day "Vaccination Festival" in Mumbai, India, April 11, 2021. Credit: Reuters Photo

The Centre's top health advisor on Monday said it was perfectly safe for women to take Covid-19 vaccines during their menstrual cycle.

"Yes, the vaccine can be taken during menstrual periods. This is no reason to postpone vaccination," Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), Niti Aayog, told reporters here.

Social media was abuzz with rumours saying that women should not get vaccinated during the menstrual cycle.

Read: Centre asks Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech to lower prices of Covid-19 vaccines

Beginning May 1, the Centre has opened Covid-19 vaccination for all above the age of 18 and asked state governments and private hospitals to carry out the task.

India has administered 14.19 crore doses of the Covid-19 vaccine in the first 100 days of the vaccination drive that began on January 16.

On the 100th day of the vaccination drive on Sunday, 9,95,288 vaccine doses were administered. A total of 6,85,944 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 11,984 sessions for the first dose and 3,09,344 beneficiaries received the second dose of vaccine.