COVID-19 Vaccination Safe During Pregnancy

THURSDAY, Feb. 17, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Maternal vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in pregnancy is safe and not associated with detrimental outcomes to the offspring, according to a study published online Feb. 10 in JAMA Pediatrics.

Inbal Goldshtein, Ph.D., from Maccabi Healthcare Services in Tel-Aviv, Israel, and colleagues examined whether BNT162b2 mRNA vaccination during pregnancy is associated with adverse neonatal and early infant outcomes among the newborns. Analysis included 24,288 eligible singleton live births in March through September 2021, within a large state-mandated health care organization (16,697 exposed to vaccination).

The researchers observed substantial differences in preterm birth rates between exposed and unexposed newborns (risk ratio [RR], 0.95; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.83 to 1.10) or small birthweight for gestational age (RR, 0.97; 95 percent CI, 0.87 to 1.08). There were also no significant differences seen in the incidence of all-cause neonatal hospitalizations (RR, 0.99; 95 percent CI, 0.88 to 1.12), postneonatal hospitalizations (RR, 0.95; 95 percent CI, 0.84 to 1.07), congenital anomalies (RR, 0.69; 95 percent CI, 0.44 to 1.04), or infant mortality (RR, 0.84; 95 percent CI, 0.43 to 1.72).

“These findings contribute to current evidence in establishing the safety of BNT162b2 to offspring and can be used to inform pregnant patients, couples planning pregnancy, and counseling physicians,” the authors write.

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