A Houston City Council member who is also pregnant has decided to get the shot publicly to help build trust in other women.
“I will be the first to admit that I was a little nervous when I received the vaccine,” said Councilor Abbie Kamin. “I think this is related to the territory of being pregnant, especially for the first time.”
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Many other pregnant women were also hesitant, said Stephanie Humbert, division manager of the health department’s family nurse partnership program. The program associates a nurse with a low-income woman who is pregnant for the first time.
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She said about 10 percent of the 170 women currently participating in the program received the vaccine.
“We are only in the early stages of explaining the COVID-19 vaccine and what it can do and that it will not harm children or their children,” said Humbert. “We are slowly changing our minds, but I think it will take some time.”
Finally, Kamin decided to make his vaccine public.
“When I walked into my doctor’s office, I said, ‘Hey, I think I want to get the vaccine,’ and she says, ‘Please, please, get it,'” Kamin said.
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Doctors said the ingredients in the COVID-19 vaccine are not known to be harmful to pregnant women. But if pregnant women become infected with the coronavirus, they are at increased risk of developing more severe diseases.
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