Pregnant women should be offered a Covid vaccine at any stage of their pregnancy, according to new Government advice. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises that it is “preferable” for pregnant women to be “offered” the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines “where available” due to there being more “real-world data” from the US on these vaccines. The AstraZeneca vaccine (the primary Covid vaccine in the Government’s rollout) will, however, still be administered where an alternative is not available, despite the JCVI saying that “more research is needed” on this vaccine because pregnant women were not included in trials. It will “continue to closely monitor” the impact of the AZ vaccine on pregnant women as it is administered. BBC News has the story.
Pregnant women should be offered a Covid jab when other people their age get one, the UK’s vaccine advisers say.
They say the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are preferable because data from the US in 90,000 pregnant women has not raised any safety concerns.
Up until now, only women with underlying health conditions or those whose risk of exposure to the virus was high were eligible…
The JCVI now advises that pregnant women should all be offered the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines where available, at the same time as the rest of the population.
They are encouraged to discuss the risks and benefits of the vaccines with their doctor before making the appointment, but it is not a requirement.
“There is no evidence to suggest that other vaccines are unsafe for pregnant women, but more research is needed,” it added.
Currently, there is a lack of data on the AstraZeneca vaccine in pregnancy because pregnant women were not included in trials, but the JCVI says more evidence may be forthcoming in the near future…
Women who are planning pregnancy or are breastfeeding can be vaccinated with any vaccine, depending on their age and clinical risk group, the JCVI said.
It said it would closely monitor the evidence on Covid vaccination in pregnancy and update its advice as required.
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