For pregnant individuals, the shot shows significant evidence of being doubly beneficial in life-saving ways—here's what experts have found.
New National Data: Less Than 20% of This Vulnerable Group Are Getting Their Covid Vaccine
Updated Oct. 01, 2024
In pregnancy, it’s normal to second-guess so many of your wellness routines, like opting for clean-beauty products and focusing with discipline on your diet. But if you’ve been thinking twice about getting the Covid vaccine or a booster, today there’s good reason to set your fears aside. Data released on September 26, 2024 shows that getting the Covid vaccine is safe not only for pregnant people, but could also offer considerable benefits to your baby after birth.
The new numbers came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which reviewed data spanning October 2022 to April 2024 and identified a total of 1,470 Covid-related hospitalizations among infants under six months old. They found that just 18% of hospitalized babies were born to mothers who had been vaccinated between October 2022 and September 2023, and that percentage dropped to under five percent between October 2023 and April 2024.
According to current recommendations, infants can be vaccinated when they turn six months old, but not before. This timeline leaves open a window of opportunity for the virus to strike while a newborn is still defenseless to severe, symptomatic illness. The health authority says that babies under six months old have especially high rates of hospitalization from Covid, second only to seniors over the age of 75. Strikingly, the risk for newborn infants is “comparable to rates among adults aged 65–74 years,” the CDC writes. That’s especially concerning considering the transmissibility rates of recent variants.
However, the health authority’s new data has revealed that when an expectant mother receives the Covid vaccine or a booster at any time during pregnancy, this offers their infant “robust” protection during that vulnerable first six months.
“These children depend upon transplacental transfer of maternal antibody, either from vaccination or infection, for protection,” the CDC wrote.
The report states: “Severe outcomes among infants hospitalized with COVID-19 occurred frequently: excluding newborns hospitalized at birth, approximately one in five young infants hospitalized with COVID-19 required admission to an intensive care unit, nearly one in 20 required mechanical ventilation, and nine infants died during their COVID-19–associated hospitalization.”
The health authority made another notable discovery, which should encourage parents-to-be: Every baby whose mother had been vaccinated during pregnancy survived hospitalization. “Among infants whose mothers’ COVID-19 vaccination status was known, all who died in-hospital were born to mothers with no record of vaccination during pregnancy.”
Despite the documented benefits of vaccinating pregnant people, misinformation spread widely online still deters many from seeking out its protection. It is important to note that the mRNA vaccines are safe to use before, during, and after pregnancy, the CDC says. “Both vaccines [produced by Pfizer and Moderna] show no increased risk for complications like miscarriage, preterm delivery, stillbirth, or birth defects,” they write.
Regardless of your pregnancy status—but especially if you’re expecting—now is a good time to get your Covid vaccine or booster as we head into cold, flu, and Covid season. Speak with your doctor if you have any specific questions, but rest assured that the data strongly supports getting the shot.
“COVID-19 vaccination remains the best protection against COVID-19-related hospitalization and death for you and your baby,” the CDC says in agreement with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine, and American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
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Originally Published: September 30, 2024
