Covid-19 Vaccines and Pregnancy

There have been many questions since the arrival of the Covid-19 vaccines, such as the number of doses to be given, which groups this vaccination programme will start with, which risk groups should not be vaccinated, or what happens during pregnancy. Read on! We answer all these questions in today's post.

We can finally say that Covid-19 vaccines are already in Spain and the vaccination process has begun in the different Autonomous Communities across the country, starting with older people, followed by healthcare and security staff.

But... what about pregnant women? Should they be vaccinated? Could these vaccines harm the foetus? Here is what is known so far about the following three vaccines:

• Pfizer. The Pfizer vaccine showed 95% effectivenessagainst Covid-19 in its latest clinical trials. The dosing schedule for this vaccine is divided into two injections, with a total of 21 days between them.
• Moderna. The US Moderna vaccine offers around 92% effectiveness against Covid-19 two weeks after the first dose.
• AstraZeneca. The British AstraZeneca vaccine has an effectiveness of 63.09% against symptomatic Coronavirus infection. The intervals associated with greater vaccine effectiveness fall within the 8 to 12 week range.

Can a pregnant woman be vaccinated?

According to the WHO (World Health Organization), for now it is recommended to administer these vaccines against Covid-19after the end of pregnancy, due to the short timeframe and the lack of results in the scientific research that is being carried out.

Although, so far, none of these vaccines has shown poor results in tests involving this group. And what if the pregnant woman is healthcare staff? In that case, both the WHO and the Spanish Ministry of Health do recommend that these professionals are vaccinated, because they are exposed to a high risk of infection and this could therefore lead to complications during pregnancy.

The same would apply to pregnant women who belong to a risk group because of an illness. According to the WHO, in this case they could receive these vaccines.

However, it is recommended that each case should be studied individually and that, for now, the vaccination plan should not be generalised for pregnant women. In addition, it is important to point out that getting vaccinated is a personal choice for pregnant women.

Which pregnant women should not be vaccinated?

At present, the WHO does not recommend any of these three vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca) for women under 18 years of age, as it is waiting for the results of scientific studies.

In addition, pregnant women with a history of severe allergic reactions to vaccine components should not be vaccinated.

If pregnancy is being planned, it is recommended to wait around 2 weeks after receiving the second dose of the vaccine.

Do vaccines affect breastfeeding?

According to the WHO, receiving the vaccine does not affect a baby's breastfeeding period. So much so that health authorities urge women not to stop breastfeeding after receiving the doses of any approved vaccine.

Even so, at Farmaciasdirect, we recommend that pregnant women who would like more information about Covid-19 vaccination should consult their paediatrician.