The first real-world study of the effectiveness of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy found them effective in protecting against serious disease, regardless of being administered before or during pregnancy.
Pregnant women were excluded from the COVID-19 mRNA clinical trials. Co-author of the study and Director of Public Health Informatics at the Indianapolis-based Regenstrief Institute Brian Dixon says it’s a major step forward in closing a significant knowledge gap.
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“This study can help kind of put people at ease that, indeed, the vaccine is doing its job,” he said. “It's protecting people from the more severe forms of the disease.”
Data on a total of 3,445 emergency department or urgent care visits and 781 hospitalizations among pregnant women with COVID-19 confirmed by molecular testing was extracted from electronic medical records from 306 hospitals and 164 emergency department and urgent care facilities in eight health systems across 10 U.S. states. This information was analyzed by the VISION network, a collective of research organizations including the Regenstrief Institute.
Regenstrief's Dr. @Shaun Grannis and Dr. Brian Dixon ( @dpugrad01 ) were authors on a @CDCgov study, the 1st large, real-world research about COVID-19 vaccines and pregnancy. https://t.co/beJktyccTT pic.twitter.com/unre8x8hn8 — Regenstrief Institute, Inc. (@Regenstrief) September 28, 2022
The study also found that like non-pregnant adults, two-dose protection waned over time (after four months) and vaccine effectiveness was highest among pregnant women with three doses.
Dixon went on to stress the importance of the timing of receiving the vaccine and its effect on protecting mother and child. “If you're expecting to become pregnant, now's a great time to be vaccinated. If you are already pregnant and haven't received your vaccine, you can get that vaccine,” he said. “And it'll still have good protection for you, even during that period that you're pregnant.”
Current guidance from the CDC and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that all pregnant women receive two vaccine doses and a booster dose, with a preference for mRNA vaccines.
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