Pfizer Director Says COVID-19 Vaccines Could Have ‘Concerning’ Side Effects on Women’s Reproductive Health

Pfizer Director Says COVID-19 Vaccines Could Have ‘Concerning’ Side Effects on Women’s Reproductive Health
A health worker administers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine to a pregnant woman at Clalit Health Services, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 23, 2021. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)
Katabella Roberts
2/3/2023
Updated:
2/3/2023
0:00

A senior employee at drug manufacturer Pfizer is allegedly concerned about the possible side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine as it relates to women’s menstrual cycles, according to a conversation that was filmed by the nonprofit journalism group, Project Veritas.

Video footage of the conversation with Dr. Jordon Walker, a senior Pfizer employee, with the undercover reporter for Project Veritas was published on Twitter on Feb. 2.
Walker is the director of research and development at the pharmaceuticals giant, according to a Pfizer receptionist. The company has not disputed that it employs Walker.

In the footage, the senior Pfizer employee can be seen and heard expressing concerns over potential negative side effects of the company’s vaccine on women’s reproductive health, pointing to irregular menstrual cycles in women.

“There is something irregular about the menstrual cycles. So, people will have to investigate that down the line because that is a little concerning,” Walker said in the video.

“The [COVID-19] vaccine shouldn’t be interfering with that [menstrual cycles]. So, we don’t really know,” he said, before pointing to “the science” which he said suggests that the vaccine shouldn’t be interacting with something known as the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis (HPG axis), which are “the hormones that regulate their menstrual cycle and things like that,” according to Walker.

In this image from video, Pfizer Director of Research and Development Dr. Jordon Walker speaks about mutating COVID-19. (Courtesy of Project Veritas)
In this image from video, Pfizer Director of Research and Development Dr. Jordon Walker speaks about mutating COVID-19. (Courtesy of Project Veritas)

‘I Hope We Don’t Discover Something Really Bad Down the Line’

The HPG axis is a hormone-regulating mechanism that helps to regulate reproduction by controlling the uterine and ovarian cycles.

When asked by the undercover reporter if the vaccine should be interfering with women’s menstrual cycles, Walker responded that “it shouldn’t,” but noted that “there’s something happening but we don’t always figure it out.”

“I hope we don’t discover something really bad down the line. I hope we don’t find out that somehow this mRNA lingers in the body and like... because it has to be affecting something hormonal to impact menstrual cycles,” he said.

Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is built on messenger RNA, or mRNA, technology.

“So somehow the vaccine must be interacting with that axis, the HPG axis, to be causing problems with the menstrual cycles,” Walker said.

When questioned by the reporter as to whether the HPG axis is what is causing fertility issues, Walker said: “Yeah, because they control the cycle. So if it’s impacting that, it must be impacting these hormones somehow. But then we need to find out how it’s impacting these hormones because the signaling starts in the brain.”

“The vaccine doesn’t cross the blood-brain barrier,” he added.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends COVID-19 vaccines for everyone aged 6 months and older, including pregnant women or those trying to get pregnant, providing they are eligible.
A medical worker administers a dose of the "Cominarty" Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to a patient at a vaccination center in Ancenis-Saint-Gereon, France, on Nov. 17, 2021. (Stephane Mahe/File Photo/File Photo/Reuters)
A medical worker administers a dose of the "Cominarty" Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to a patient at a vaccination center in Ancenis-Saint-Gereon, France, on Nov. 17, 2021. (Stephane Mahe/File Photo/File Photo/Reuters)

‘No Evidence Vaccines Cause Fertility Problems’

“There is currently no evidence that any vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines, cause fertility problems (problems trying to get pregnant) in women or men,” the CDC says.

During the conversation, Walker, who appeared to be speaking at a restaurant and seemed unaware that he was being recorded, also noted that there is a lot of pressure to get vaccinated, adding that he himself “had to get the vaccine otherwise I would have got fired.”

“I hope we don’t discover something really bad down the line… If something were to happen downstream and it was, like, really bad? I mean, the scale of that scandal would be enormous,” Walker added.

While Walker’s professional profiles have been removed from the web, Pfizer has not disputed that he was or is an employee of the company.
In August 2021, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced it had awarded one-year supplemental grants, amounting to $1.67 million, to multiple institutions to investigate the potential links between COVID-19 vaccination and menstrual changes.

The grants supported research that could help determine whether or not changes to menstrual cycles were linked to the vaccines themselves and how long such changes last.

However, at the time of the announcement, NIH also stressed that an array of factors could impact menstrual cycles, including pandemic-related stress, lifestyle changes related to the pandemic, and infection with SARS-CoV-2.

Studies Show Vaccines Delay Menstrual Cycles

One of the studies funded by the grants included one published in September 2022 led by Oregon Health and Science University clinician-scientist Dr. Alison Edelman. It found that the COVID-19 vaccination can affect the menstrual cycle by increasing its length by less than one day.
Nearly 20,000 people participated in the study across Canada, the UK, the United States, Europe, and other parts of the world, of which 14,936 were vaccinated and 4,686 were not.

Researchers analyzed data on at least three consecutive cycles before vaccination and at least one cycle after, as well as data from at least four consecutive cycles over a similar time interval for unvaccinated participants.

They found that on average, the vaccinated participants experienced an increase of less than one day in each cycle in which they were vaccinated: A 0.71-day (or less than 24 hours) increase after the first dose and a 0.56-day increase after the second dose.

Additionally, women who received both vaccine doses in a single menstrual cycle saw their cycle increase by 3.91 days.

However, 1,342 women saw their menstrual cycle increase by eight days or more, representing 6.2 percent of vaccinated individuals and 5 percent of unvaccinated people in the study.

Women who were younger and who had longer cycle lengths before vaccination were more likely to experience the increase, the study noted.

In February 2022, the European Medicines Agency’s safety committee said it was reviewing reports of heavy menstrual bleeding and absence of menstruation from women who had been vaccinated with either Pfizer or Moderna shots.

However, definitive links between the COVID-19 vaccines and long-term impacts on menstrual cycles have not yet been found.

The Epoch Times has contacted Pfizer for comment.