Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Pregnant women urged to get Covid jab as data from England shows it is safe

Pregnant women urged to get Covid jab as data from England shows it is safe

Analysis finds vaccinated women no more likely than unvaccinated to suffer stillbirth or premature births

Health leaders are urging thousands of unvaccinated pregnant women to get vaccinated after the first official data from England found Covid jabs are safe and effective.

The analysis of more than 350,000 deliveries by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows women who have had a Covid vaccine are no more likely than unvaccinated women to suffer stillbirth, premature birth or have babies with low birthweight. It reinforces international evidence that the jabs have a good safety record in pregnant women.

Health leaders hope the fresh data will spur pregnant women who are still unvaccinated to take up the offer of a jab. Of all pregnant women in hospital with symptomatic Covid, 98% are unvaccinated. Only 22% of women who gave birth in August were vaccinated, official figures show. One in five of the most critically ill Covid patients in hospital since July have been pregnant women who have not been vaccinated.

“If you haven’t already been vaccinated, this new information should add to the reassuring safety data,” said Dr Mary Ramsay, the head of immunisation at UKHSA. “Every pregnant woman who has not yet been vaccinated should feel confident to go and get the jab, and that this will help to prevent the serious consequences of catching Covid-19 in pregnancy.”

The data shows good birth outcomes in vaccinated women who had their babies up to August this year – with no consistent differences between vaccinated women and all women in the figures for stillbirths, low baby birthweights and premature births.


Dr June Raine, the chief executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, said: “We want to reassure all pregnant women that the Covid-19 vaccines are safe and effective for them to use at all stages of pregnancy.

“Our rigorous safety monitoring of these vaccines in pregnancy shows that the vaccines are safe and that there is no increased risk of pregnancy complications, miscarriage or stillbirth.”

In the eight months between January and August 2021, 355,299 women gave birth, of whom 24,759 had received at least one dose of the Covid vaccine prior to delivery, according to the UKHSA analysis.

Preliminary figures released by the UKHSA show the stillbirth rate for vaccinated women who gave birth was 3.35 per 1,000, a similar rate to unvaccinated women (3.60 per 1,000), between January and August.

In the same period, the proportion of vaccinated women giving birth to babies with low birthweight (5.28%) was almost exactly the same as the proportion for unvaccinated women (5.36%). The proportion of premature births was 6.51% for vaccinated and 5.99% for unvaccinated women.

UKHSA said the small differences between groups may be explained by differences in the women eligible for and taking up the vaccine.

Prof Lucy Chappell, the Department of Health and Social Care’s chief scientific adviser, said: “This pandemic has created a lot of fear and uncertainty for those who are thinking about pregnancy or expecting a baby, with Covid-19 being very dangerous for pregnant women in particular.

“It is therefore really important that they get their Covid-19 vaccine – which has now protected hundreds of thousands of pregnant women around the world. Today’s data is hugely reassuring and further shows the vaccines continue to be the best way pregnant women can keep themselves and their babies safe from this virus.”

About 84,000 pregnant women have had the jab in the UK. Pregnant women aged 40 and over, who are health or social care workers or are in an at-risk group are now also eligible for booster vaccines, six months after their second dose.

Dr Nikki Kanani, a GP and deputy lead for the NHS Covid-19 vaccination programme, said: “This new and encouraging research shows there are no significant concerns about the safety of Covid-19 vaccines in pregnancy, so we will continue to advise midwives and clinicians to give expectant mums the information and support they need to make the right decision for them and their babies.”

Figures also show uptake in the most deprived areas and for those from certain minority ethnic communities is lower than for other areas or ethnicities. It follows a similar pattern to the uptake figures for these groups in the general population. This includes 5.5% of black pregnant women and 7.8% of pregnant women from the most deprived areas being vaccinated.

“We are concerned that women of black ethnicity and those living in the most deprived areas in England were least likely to have been vaccinated before they gave birth,” said Dr Edward Morris, the president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. “Efforts must be strengthened to support and encourage these groups – who are already at the highest risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes – to accept the offer of vaccination.”

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
A monster hit and a billion-dollar toy empire
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
Canada: Nurse Suspended and Fined 93 Thousand Dollars After Stating the World’s Most Well-Known Fact Since the Creation of Adam and Eve, That There Are Only Two Genders
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
U.S. Treasury Secretary Whitney Bessent Backs Stablecoins to Boost Treasury Demand
Spain to Declare Disaster Zones After Massive Wildfires
Three-Minute Battery Swap Touted as Future of EVs
Beijing Military Parade to Showcase Weapons Advances
U.S. Tech Stocks Slide on AI Boom Concerns
White House Confirms Talks Over Intel Stake
Trump Suggests U.S. Could Support Ukraine ‘By Air’
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
UK Government Tries to Sue 4chan for Breaching Online Safety Act
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
"Every Centimeter of Your Body Is a Masterpiece": The Shocking Meta Document Revealed
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
China Requires Data Centres to Source Majority of AI Chips Locally, For Technological Sovereignty
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
OpenAI’s ‘PhD-Level’ ChatGPT 5 Stumbles, Struggles to Even Label a Map
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×