Friday, March 29, 2024
ADVT 
Health

Docs urge pregnant women to get vaccinated

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 05 Jan, 2021 08:57 PM
  • Docs urge pregnant women to get vaccinated

The head of the Ontario Medical Association says the risk COVID-19 poses to pregnant and breastfeeding women is higher than the risk of taking a vaccine against the virus that causes it.

Dr. Samantha Hill, a cardiac surgeon in Toronto, says because pregnant and breastfeeding women haven't been included in clinical trials yet she is worried the message many pregnant women are getting is to not get vaccinated.

She echoes concerns raised last month by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada, and reiterated in a statement from the Ontario Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Tuesday.

PICS early educator course

All say women who are pregnant or breastfeeding might be at higher risk of serious illness if they get COVID-19 and that particularly for women at high risk of exposure to the virus, the risks of not getting the vaccine outweigh the unknown risks of getting vaccinated.

Hill says she is still breastfeeding her youngest child and won't hesitate to get a vaccine when her turn comes, and also would get the vaccine if she were pregnant.

She says pregnancy already puts stress on the body's immune system and vascular system, and COVID-19 could pose great risk to a pregnant woman or her fetus.

"We don't have the choice of living in a COVID-free society," Hill said, in an interview with The Canadian Press. "We have the choice of accepting the risk of the vaccine, or accepting the risk of COVID and the risk of the vaccine certainly seems a lot lower to me than the risk of COVID."

Statistics suggest between eight and 11 per cent of pregnant women who contracted COVID-19 ended up in hospital, and between two and four per cent needed intensive care. That compares to about eight per cent of all COVID patients who have needed hospitalization and about 1.5 per cent who needed intensive care.

The national society of obstetricians says pregnant women with COVID-19 have an increased risk of needing to be placed on ventilators compared to other women of the same age, and that the risk of severe illness are greater for pregnant women who have other risk factors including asthma, obesity, non-pregnancy related diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease.

Women are overrepresented in many of the occupations at highest risk of COVID-19 exposure including in health care.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization in December recommended against giving the vaccine to populations who were not included in clinical trials unless the benefits of being vaccinated are deemed to outweigh the potential risk of the vaccine.

Hill says pregnant and breastfeeding women are never included in the clinical trials of new drugs or vaccines until the risks to non-pregnant individuals are known.

But she notes that 12 women who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine during its large Phase 3 trial reported pregnancies during the trial and had no adverse outcomes from taking the vaccine.

The national society says the overall evidence for the vaccine and pregnancy is scant.

"What is known, however, is that an unvaccinated pregnant individual remains at risk of COVID-19 infection and remains at heightened risk of severe morbidity if infected compared to non-pregnant counterparts," the statement says. "Severe infection with COVID-19 carries risks to both maternal and fetal health"

 

MORE Health ARTICLES

First blood test to help diagnose Alzheimer's goes on sale

First blood test to help diagnose Alzheimer's goes on sale
More than 5 million people in the United States and millions more around the world have Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia.

First blood test to help diagnose Alzheimer's goes on sale

What does emergency use of a COVID-19 vaccine mean?

What does emergency use of a COVID-19 vaccine mean?
Before any vaccine is permitted in the U.S., it must be reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration, which requires study in thousands of people.

What does emergency use of a COVID-19 vaccine mean?

Pfizer issues more promising vaccine results

Pfizer issues more promising vaccine results
Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech just last week estimated the vaccine was more than 90 per cent effective after 94 infections had been counted in a study that included 44,000 people.

Pfizer issues more promising vaccine results

How to embrace Diwali this year

How to embrace Diwali this year
Here are a few steps I hope to follow for the upcoming Diwali, and enjoy this time with my family.

How to embrace Diwali this year

UN: 870K measles cases in 2019, highest number in 23 years

UN: 870K measles cases in 2019, highest number in 23 years
To prevent measles outbreaks, WHO estimates about 95% of the population must be immunized.

UN: 870K measles cases in 2019, highest number in 23 years

News of potential COVID vaccine 'encouraging': PM

News of potential COVID vaccine 'encouraging': PM
The prime minister says news from Pfizer today that one of its vaccine candidates appears very effective in clinical trials is "very encouraging" but won't help anyone who catches the virus in the meantime.

News of potential COVID vaccine 'encouraging': PM

PrevNext