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COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy provides strong protection for both mother and baby, new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest.
Babies born to mothers who received two mRNA vaccine doses during pregnancy were 61% less likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 in their first six months of life, compared to babies born to women who were not vaccinated during pregnancy, according to the CDC’s new report. The shots were effective whenever expectant mothers were vaccinated, but offered even more protection when given 21 weeks into the pregnancy or later.
The CDC recommends COVID-19 vaccination for pregnant people, since they are at high risk for complications if they get infected during pregnancy. Vaccination is safe and effective for mother and baby, the agency says. In November, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists also recommended boosters for all eligible pregnant people.
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The new study, published Feb. 15 in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, offers the first real-world evidence that vaccination during pregnancy can also help keep infants safe from the virus. Disease-fighting antibodies generated by vaccination seem to pass from mother to baby in utero and offer protection against severe disease and hospitalization, the study’s authors write.
“Today’s news is highly welcome, particularly in the backdrop of the recent increase in hospitalizations among very young children,” said Dr. Dana Meaney-Delman, chief of the CDC’s Infant Outcomes Monitoring Research and Prevention Branch, during a press briefing. “Unfortunately, vaccination of infants younger than six months old is not currently on the horizon, highlighting why vaccination during pregnancy is so important.”
The CDC’s study was fairly small; researchers examined data from almost 400 infants younger than 6 months who were hospitalized across 17 states from July 2021 to January 2022. Roughly half of…
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Source : time
