Doctors urge pregnant women in Hawaii to get vaccinated during COVID outbreak

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Excited by her growing ohana, Jennifer Elia, 36, is seven months pregnant and expecting her second boy in November.

After talking to her doctor and looking for credible studies, she received the COVID vaccine during her baby’s first trimester.

“It’s really a relief to be vaccinated given the spread in the community right now,” Elia said.

Amid a continuing wave of COVID, doctors in Hawaii are urging pregnant women to get vaccinated to protect themselves and their unborn babies.

The latest CDC figures show that only 16% of pregnant women in the United States are vaccinated.

Dr Dena Towner, of Kapiolani Medical Center, said the vaccine is safe during pregnancy and prevents “unwanted outcomes for mothers.”

She says there is no data or history of vaccines increasing miscarriages.

The vaccine, she added, does not go directly to the baby.

“It doesn’t cross the placenta. It does not pass into breast milk. It does its job and you start making antibodies, ”Towner said.

These antibodies can help the baby with what is called passive immunity.

“So they will be resistant to infection for the first six months of their life,” Towner said.

Elia says she felt fatigue and nausea for a day after the second dose of the COVID vaccine, but her pregnancy went normally.

“Everything is normal. I did the genetic test because I am a little older and everything was normal on the genetic test. Everything was normal on the ultrasound,” she said.

She added that she was confident in her decision, but said there is still one major issue she is not sure about: She does not yet have a list of possible baby names.

“I just don’t have a lot of ideas,” she said with a laugh.

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