Can pregnant women get vaccinated against COVID-19?

On March 11th, the Janssen vaccine whose laboratories belong to the Johnson & Johnson company was approved. In addition to this, four more have been integrated from the plan managed by the European Commission. Previously, the first Pfizer / BioNtech had already reached its approval on December 21st, 2020. Then, the Moderna appeared on January 6th and the AstraZeneca on January 29th.

The four vaccines are authorized for distribution subject to conditions of clinical trials carried out since their inception. In other words, they are intended for the same populations for which they have already been approved in advance, through said evaluations.

Vaccinate pregnant and lactating women?

According to the information published on the portal theconversation.com , there is no specific evidence on teratogenicity that forces pregnant women to discard the vaccine . Nor is it prohibited while breastfeeding, despite the contraindications that this period has compared to other medications.

When it comes to clinical trials, pregnant women have been excluded for prevention measures. But the situation is different when they work in hospitals, where the risk of contracting SARS-CoV2 infections is high.

Regarding the pregnant population, it has not been defined in the data collected, an issue that has prevented establishing the impact of the vaccine on pregnant women. The Barcelona Institute of Global Health has said that a global research plan is important to determine the contraindications of the vaccine in pregnancy.

Based on the considerations of the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention; the American College of Obstetricians, Gynecologists; and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine; they are of the opinion that, due to insufficient clinical data to suggest its ban , It is up to personal criteria and should be taken together with your treating physician .

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As posted on www.bbc.com, the WHO does not recommend the vaccine in pregnant women unless they are at increased risk of contracting COVID-19. These cases would be, for example, if the woman is a health worker or has a precedent related to diseases that are related in some way to viruses or similar infections, but in that case the WHO advises that it should be under the opinion of her doctors .

Harvard study on vaccinating pregnant women

On the page cnnespanol.cnn.com it was published that at Harvard University, according to the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology report of March 25, some aspects to consider about vaccinating pregnant women were revealed in a study.

According to the data, 84 pregnant women and 31 lactating women were vaccinated. The results showed that the antibodies were produced in greater quantity and these were present both in breast milk and in the umbilical cord, indicating that the protection would pass to the baby.

Although the study does not reflect whether there are contraindications or suggests that pregnant women or the fetus could have an adverse reaction, the countries that promote the vaccine have different opinions in this regard. Some recommend it, like the United States; others, such as the UK, have not, and the authority on the subject, the WHO, has been clear about it.