According to several studies, pregnant women with COVID-19 have a higher risk of illness severity and death. However, just 31% of pregnant women in the United States had received vaccines as of September 2021. One hurdle to vaccine acceptance is the fear that vaccination will interfere with pregnancy.
The Yale co-led study of more than 40,000 pregnant people adds new evidence to support the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy. The findings could positively impact the COVID-19 Vaccine Market as it would push pregnant women towards getting vaccinated, thus safeguarding them and the newborns.
The study compared vaccinated and unvaccinated pregnant people and discovered that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy was not connected with preterm delivery or small-for-gestational-age (SGA). The researchers found that the trimester of immunization and the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses received were not linked with an elevated risk of preterm delivery or SGA.
In addition, their study suggests that preterm birth (when a baby is born before 37 weeks) and SGA (when a baby is born smaller than normal for the gestational age) are linked to an increased risk of infant death as a disability. The new study's authors examined the risk of preterm birth or SGA among vaccinated and unvaccinated pregnant women aged 16 to 49 years using data from eight health care organizations.
According to the researchers, 10,064 people, or roughly 22% of those in the study, received at least one COVID-19 vaccination dosage during pregnancy. They were given to about 96 percent of people who were vaccinated. Most women (98.3%) were vaccinated during their second or third trimester, while the rest (1.7%) were vaccinated during their first trimester with mRNA vaccines created by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.
The team stated that only a few studies have detailed outcomes among live babies following COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy. The latest findings further help the growing body of data that COVID-19 immunization during pregnancy is safe.
The most common concerns concerning COVID-19 vaccine safety in pregnant people and potential harm to the foetus, according to research, are a lack of information about the vaccine's safety in pregnant people and potential harm to the baby.
The team's advice for pregnant women is to get vaccinated due to the rising rates of COVID-19 in the community. Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is critical for pregnant women to avoid serious diseases. Women with such conditions are more likely to require machine-assisted blood oxygenation, invasive ventilation, and admission to the ICU compared to non-pregnant women.