CDC Recommends COVID-19 Vaccination During Pregnancy
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released new data last week and urged pregnant people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
CDC data shows only 23.3% of pregnant people between 18 and 49 years old had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of Aug. 7.
“CDC encourages all pregnant people or people who are thinking about becoming pregnant and those breastfeeding to get vaccinated to protect themselves from COVID-19,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. “The vaccines are safe and effective, and it has never been more urgent to increase vaccinations as we face the highly transmissible Delta variant and see severe outcomes from COVID-19 among unvaccinated pregnant people.”
A new CDC analysis of data from the v-safe pregnancy registry assessed vaccination early in pregnancy and did not find an increased risk of miscarriage among nearly 2,500 pregnant women who received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine before 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Miscarriage typically occurs in about 11-16% of pregnancies, and the study found miscarriage rates after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine were around 13%, similar to the expected rate of miscarriage in the general population.
The CDC’s new data comes amid a surge in COVID cases and hospitalizations attributed to the delta variant, and as clinicians have seen the number of pregnant people infected with COVID-19 rise in the past several weeks.
For more information about the COVID-19 vaccine and pregnant people from the CDC, click here.
In other news:
- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) amended the emergency use authorizations for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to allow for the use of a booster dose for certain immunocompromised people, specifically, solid organ transplant recipients or those who are diagnosed with conditions that are considered to have an equivalent level of immunocompromise. Read more from the FDA here.
- UT Southwestern Medical Center doctors discovered five cases of the lambda variant in patient samples taken between early June and July 18. Read more from the Dallas Morning News here.
- The 500,000th COVID-19 vaccine dose was administered at Fair Park Saturday.
- Dallas ISD will offer fully vaccinated staff members a one-time $500 incentive. For more information, click here.
