According to a study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the COVID-19 vaccine in pregnant women protects their babies from hospitalization by up to 61 percent.
This was announced by CDC obstetrician and researcher Dana Meaney-Delman, who, in a media briefing, detailed that infants under six months of age whose mothers were vaccinated were 61 percent less likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19.
He further explained that 84 percent of the babies hospitalized for this disease were born to people who were not vaccinated during pregnancy, while 88 percent of those admitted to intensive care units for the virus were born to mothers who were not vaccinated before or during pregnancy.
He also pointed out that the only baby that died during the study was born to a mother who was not vaccinated.
"The bottom line is that COVID-19 vaccination in pregnant women is a really important way to help protect these babies. Today's news is very welcome, particularly in the context of the recent increase in hospitalizations among very young children. This has been the highest of the entire pandemic," he noted.
He added that, unfortunately, vaccination of infants under six months of age is not currently contemplated, so vaccination during pregnancy is very important for them.
He explained that COVID-19 vaccination in pregnant women continues to be recommended by the CDC and many medical organizations.
"Personally, I advise all my pregnant patients who are more likely to become seriously ill and experience complications, such as premature delivery or even fetal death from COVID-19, and I strongly recommend that they get vaccinated," he stressed.
Dr. Meaney-Delman emphasized that the study findings reinforce the importance of COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy, both to protect people who are pregnant and to help protect their babies.
"CDC recommends that people who are pregnant, breastfeeding, trying to become pregnant now or who may become pregnant in the future get vaccinated and keep up with their COVID-19 vaccines through the recommended booster doses," he said.
When people receive the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine during pregnancy, they generate antibodies that protect against the disease, which have been found in umbilical cord blood, indicating that they are transferred from the pregnant person to the developing baby.
"Although we know that these antibodies cross the placenta, until this study, we did not yet have data to show whether these antibodies could provide protection. The data CDC is releasing today provides real-world evidence that getting vaccinated during pregnancy may help protect babies younger than six months from hospitalization due to COVID-19."
Notably, the study used data from the Survivorship Network in 20 children's hospitals in 17 states across the country from July 2021 to mid-January of this year.
The authors examined the odds of vaccination against COVID-19 among mothers whose infants were hospitalized and compared it with the odds of vaccination among mothers whose infants were hospitalized for other reasons.
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