Large study confirms COVID-19 mRNA vaccine is safe during pregnancy

COVID-19 mRNA vaccine safe for use during pregnancy and A large Canadian study showed in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal.

The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affects pregnant women, who are at risk of severe COVID-19 disease higher than that of pregnant women. Nonpregnant individuals of similar age. Based on the established safety of inactivated vaccines during pregnancy and reliable data on the small number of pregnancies that have occurred during pre-authorized vaccine trials, many countries recommend the use of COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy early in vaccine deployment.

This study is one of the first to look simultaneously at vaccine side effects in a group of vaccinated pregnant women . The unvaccinated pregnant group and the unvaccinated non-pregnant group to allow comparisons among the three.

“In the early stages, Dr. Manish Sadarangani of British Columbia said: “Due to concerns about data availability and vaccine safety, Concerns about low vaccination rates among pregnant women after the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine. Immunization rates for non-pregnant women of reproductive age remain below average. “The Children’s Hospital Research Institute and the study’s first author. “Large observational studies like ours are critical to properly understand the incidence of adverse health events in pregnant women following different doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. This information should be used to inform pregnant women of the side effects they may experience in the week following vaccination. ”

This new study from the Canadian National Vaccine Safety (CANVAS) Network reviewed data from December 2020 to Participants in seven Canadian provinces and territories during November 2021. All vaccinated participants were asked to self-report any health events within 7 days of each dose of COVID-19 vaccine. An unvaccinated pregnant control group was A total of 191,360 women aged 15-49 with known pregnancy status completed the first dose survey and 94,937 completed the second dose survey.

A “Major Health Event” is defined as a new or more serious health event sufficient to cause the participant to miss school/ Work, require medical advice, and/or prevent daily activities within the past 7 days. A “serious health event” is defined as any event that resulted in an emergency department visit and/or hospitalization within the past 7 days.

Researchers found that 4.0% (226/5,597) of pregnant women who received the mRNA vaccine reported severe health problems within 7 days of receiving the first dose of the mRNA vaccine events, compared to 7.3% (227/3,108) after the second dose. The most common major health events in pregnant women after the second dose were general malaise, headache/migraine, and respiratory infection.

In contrast, 3.2% (11/339) of unvaccinated pregnant women reported within 7 days of survey completion Similar events.In the non-pregnant vaccinated control group, 6.3% (10,950/174,765) reported a major health event one week after the first dose and 11.3% (10,254/91,131) after the second dose Health events. Serious health events were rare (less than 1%) in all groups and were reported in vaccinated pregnant women, vaccinated non-pregnant women, and unvaccinated controls at the first and second doses Post-dose rates were similar.

Miscarriage/stillbirth was the most commonly reported adverse pregnancy outcome, with vaccination and There were no significant differences in the incidence among vaccinated women; 2.1% (7/339) of unvaccinated and 1.5% (83/5,597) of vaccinated women experienced miscarriage or stillbirth within 7 days of receiving either mRNA vaccine .

“Incidence of major health events in vaccinated pregnant women compared to vaccinated non-pregnant individuals lower, which was unexpected, more needed Research. Previous studies of other vaccines in pregnant women have mostly reported no significant differences in health events between pregnant and non-pregnant women, or found higher rates of pregnancy. Further research on non-COVID-19 mRNA vaccines is needed to determine whether the reduction in side effects observed in pregnant women is a feature of the mRNA vaccine platform or these specific vaccines,” said the paper’s senior author, Children’s Hospital of British Columbia. The Institute’s Dr. Julie Bettinger said.

The authors caution that the majority of participation by race was reported in this study All were white, so these data may not be fully generalizable to other populations. Furthermore, the study focused on health events within the first 7 days after vaccination, so no conclusions can be drawn about long-term responses. However, the study Long-term follow-up of the cohort is still ongoing. Another limitation of this study is that the data are based on self-reports by study participants and have not been verified by medical records. Dr. Sascha Ellington and Dr. Christine Olson of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (who were not involved in the study) wrote in a linked comment, “These findings are in line with the growing body of evidence that a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine It is safe during pregnancy. […] COVID-19 vaccination rates for pregnant women continue to be lower than for non-pregnant women of reproductive age. Given the risk of major illness and adverse pregnancy outcomes, it is imperative that we continue to collect and disseminate data on the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy and encourage healthcare providers to promote vaccination throughout pregnancy. ”