in an urgent petition On Wednesday, federal health officials urged any American who is pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or currently breastfeeding to be vaccinated against the coronavirus as soon as possible.
Covid-19 poses a serious risk during pregnancyAccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, when an individual’s immune system is suppressed and raises the risk of stillbirth or another bad outcome. Twenty-two pregnant people died from Covid in August, the highest number in a month since the start of the pandemic.
About 125 thousand pregnant people tested positive for the virus; 22,000 pregnant Covid patients were hospitalized and 161 died. Hospital data shows that 97 percent of those who become infected when hospitalized — for illness or labor and delivery — were not vaccinated.
Vaccination rates among pregnant women are lower than in the general population. Less than a third of all pregnant people get vaccinated before or during pregnancy, the agency said.
Rates vary widely by race and ethnicity; The highest vaccination coverage was among Asian Asian American individuals, about half of whom were vaccinated, and the lowest among pregnant Black individuals, at just 15 percent.
Pregnancy is on the CDC’s list of health conditions that increase the risk of severe Covid-19. Although the absolute risk for severe disease is low, pregnant patients who are symptomatic are more than twice as likely as other symptomatic patients to need intensive care or interventions such as mechanical ventilation and may be more likely to die.
Some data also show that pregnant individuals with Covid-19 are more likely to experience pregnancy complicating conditions, such as a type of high blood pressure called preeclampsia, compared to pregnant individuals without Covid-19. Pregnant individuals with the disease are also at high risk for poor birth outcomes, such as premature birth.
Clinical trials have a long history of excluding pregnant women from participation, and pregnant individuals have not been included in coronavirus vaccine trials. As a result, data on the safety and efficacy of vaccines in this group are limited.
But studies since the vaccines were approved have shown that vaccines do not increase the risk of miscarriage. Researchers found that both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines produced strong immune responses in pregnant women and did not harm the placenta.
CDC director Dr. “Pregnancy can be both a special and stressful time, and pregnancy is an added concern for the family during a pandemic,” said Rochelle Walensky. “Speaking to healthcare professionals about the protective benefits of the Covid-19 vaccine to keep their babies and themselves safe.”