mRNA Vaccination While Pregnant Poses Minimal Serious Risk

 Researchers with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the Food and Drug Administration published a study in the NEJM on April 21, 2021 that concluded 'Preliminary findings did not show obvious safety signals among pregnant females who received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, such as the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.

Among 3,958 participants enrolled in the US V-Safe Pregnancy Registry, 827 females had a completed pregnancy, of which 115 (13.9%) resulted in a pregnancy loss and 712 (86.1%) resulted in a live birth.

Most of these women had the mRNA vaccination in the third trimester.

Adverse neonatal outcomes included preterm birth (in 9.4%) and small size for gestational age (in 3.2%).

However, no neonatal deaths were reported.

Although not directly comparable, calculated proportions of adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcomes in persons vaccinated against COVID-19 who had a completed pregnancy were similar to incidences reported in studies involving pregnant women conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic.

'Longitudinal follow-up, including follow-up of large numbers of women vaccinated earlier in pregnancy, is necessary to inform maternal, pregnancy, and infant outcomes,' wrote these researchers. The study authors are U.S. government employees or contractors and do not have any material conflicts of interest.

As of March 18, 2021, the CDC says, 'Getting vaccinated is a personal choice. Based on how these vaccines work in the body, experts believe they are unlikely to pose a specific risk for pregnant women. Any of the currently authorized COVID-19 vaccines can be offered to women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.'

'If you have questions about getting vaccinated, a conversation with your healthcare provider might help but is not required.'

The Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech experimental mRNA vaccines do not contain the live virus that causes COVID-19 and, therefore, cannot give someone COVID-19, says the CDC.