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Pregnant women should not receive COVID-19 vaccines unless the benefits outweigh the risks, the WHO said.
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People in high-risk jobs with underlying conditions, for example, can benefit.
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The vaccine is expected to be safe in pregnant women, but there is not enough data to really know its risks.
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Pregnant women should refrain from getting vaccinated against the Moderna coronavirus unless the benefits of protection outweigh the potential risks, the World Health Organization said in interim guidelines released Monday.
For example, pregnant people at high risk of COVID-19, such as healthcare workers, or at high risk of serious complications from the disease, such as those with gestational diabetes, are good candidates for vaccination.
The organization issued the same advisory for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on January 8.
Although the WHO position appears to be one of the strongest against the vaccine during pregnancy, it is not that different from what other professional and government organizations have said, namely that pregnant women eligible groups should have the opportunity to be vaccinated.
Those who are in high-risk situations or with a high-risk pregnancy should “give it serious thought,” pediatrician and neonatologist Dr Jessica Madden told Insider.
Read more: What pregnant women need to know about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine
However, everyone may want to wait until more is known about the effects of vaccines during pregnancy – and due to the way the vaccine is deployed, most will have to.
“For women who are pregnant now, but not in priority groups, by the time the vaccine becomes available to them, most will no longer be pregnant,” said Madden, who is also the medical director of Aeroflow Breastpumps.
“There should be a lot more information available on the safety of the vaccine during pregnancy by the time most of them are eligible to receive it.”
Pregnancy itself increases the risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19, although the overall risk is low
If infected, pregnant women have a higher risk of ICU admission, ventilation, life support, and even death than patients who are not pregnant, although the overall risk is still low, according to a November CDC report. They are also more likely to give birth prematurely.
Pregnant women of color are particularly at risk of contracting the disease and experiencing related complications.
Read more: No, the coronavirus vaccine will not make you sterile
Monica Ramirez is one of them. Staff at the school near Los Angeles didn’t touch her daughter, Emiliana, until the child was six weeks old. Emiliana had been delivered by emergency cesarean while Ramirez, who had a near-fatal case of COVID-19, was in a medically induced coma.
“I am very happy to have succeeded,” Ramirez told Insider. “Not everyone has the same result.” If a vaccine had been available and given to Ramirez when she was pregnant, her experience might have been very different.
Due to the way the vaccine is made, it should be safe during pregnancy
Researchers don’t have good data on the risks to pregnant women, although health and public health professionals expect them to be low.
“Based on how the COVID vaccine works, there should be very little risk to a developing baby,” Madden said. This is because, like the flu vaccine, coronavirus vaccines do not contain live virus.
“The mRNA from the vaccine works locally, in the muscle cells surrounding the injection site,” she said. “It cannot enter the nucleus of cells, so it has no effect on DNA.” In addition, limited data from animal studies have shown no harm during pregnancy.
The few women who became pregnant while enrolled in clinical trials for vaccines reported no complications. And, of the more than 100,000 pregnant women who have already been vaccinated, “there have been no red flags” regarding their safety so far, infectious disease specialist Dr Anthony said on Friday. Fauci, at a conference at the New York Press Club.
The vaccine could eventually cause a fever as a side effect, which can be problematic for the developing fetus early in pregnancy. However, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) says it can be treated with Tylenol, which is safe during pregnancy and doesn’t appear to affect how vaccines work.
The decision should be influenced by your risk of exposure, the rates in your community and the state of health
ACOG says the decision to get vaccinated during pregnancy should be informed by rates of transmission in the community, as well as the risk of serious illness from COVID-19. Occupation and pregnancy complications of a pregnant person are also important, Madden said.
Whatever you choose, “you should feel like your decision is being honored,” she added, “and know that if you choose not to get the vaccine now, or in the future, it is. OK”.
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