Dr. Anthony Fauci says there were “no red flags” after tens of thousands of pregnant women received vaccines against COVID) -19.
On Wednesday, during a briefing at the White House, the nation’s leading expert on infectious diseases said that in the coming months, both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna were given photos, with no unexpected side effects.
“I want to point out that since the EUA emergency use authorization 9) and under the EUA, approximately 20,000 pregnant women have been vaccinated without red flags, as we say, and this is being monitored by the CDC and the FDA.” , said Fauci. .
While pregnant women have not been included in clinical trials for any vaccine approved in the United States, some clinical trials, including pregnant women, are about to begin or are already underway, he added.
Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that COVID-19 vaccines should not be used in pregnant women – and then withdrew its advice and said vaccines could be safely administered to pregnant women.
It also comes as states like Illinois and New York expand their eligibility for shootings to pregnant women included.
On Wednesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci (pictured) said there were no “red flags” after 20,000 pregnant women received coronavirus vaccines
Fauci said clinical trials with pregnant women will begin or are ongoing, but will not need tens of thousands, just enough volunteers to show safety and effectiveness (file image)
The WHO has recommended that pregnant women not be vaccinated – and then reversed its guidance – which would have affected more than three million pregnant women in the US, as the country continues to vaccinate about 1.5 million people each day ( above)
No vaccine study has so far included pregnant women – and it is not expected to do so until after the first quarter of 2021 – which means there are no safety data, says WHO.
Researchers want to determine if vaccines are safe and effective in healthy, non-pregnant people before testing them on expectant mothers and their future children.
“As for children and pregnant women, as I mentioned in a previous discussion with this group, the fact remains that we will start clinical trials, and some have already begun. We will not have to make tens of thousands of people ‘, said Fauci.
“We will need enough measured in hundreds to thousands for safety and whether or not we induce an immune response that is equivalent to the immune response that has been shown to be protective in studies that have now been shown to be 94 to 95. percent effective. ‘
Doctors in the United States have opposed pregnant women being excluded from vaccination recommendations because of the high risk of severe COVID-19 disease, and say patients should decide for themselves whether or not they want the shot.
In a virtual briefing last month, WHO’s director of immunization, Kate O’Brien, stressed the need for clinical trials with the Moderna vaccine in pregnant women.
“There is no reason to believe that there could be a problem during pregnancy, we just acknowledge that the data does not exist at this time,” she said.
However, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology strongly opposed the exclusion of pregnant women from vaccination and counseling studies.
In a statement, the organization wrote that pregnant women should choose whether or not to be vaccinated and be informed of any risks.
“Pregnant people are more likely to have certain manifestations of severe diseases associated with COVID-19 infection, such as admission to intensive care, mechanical ventilation and death,” the statement said.
“In addition, more than half of pregnant people also fall into another high-priority category, including front-line workers and those with basic conditions.
ACOG continues to urge that for pregnant women, the decision to vaccinate should be left to the discretion of each patient in consultation with their trusted physician.
There are currently no data on the number of women who became pregnant during the study with the Modern coronavirus vaccine.
However, during a meeting of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee on whether or not to recommend Pfizer – the only other vaccine approved in the United States – the researchers revealed that 23 pregnancies occurred during the trial. November 14.
Many gynecologists have objected to pregnant women being excluded from vaccine recommendations because patients pregnant with COVID-19 are twice as likely to be admitted to intensive care and three times more likely to need mechanical ventilation. (above)
Of the pregnancies, 12 were in the vaccine group and 11 were in the placebo group.
In the vaccine group, four were immunized before their last period, four within 30 days of their last period, and four more than 30 days later.
In the placebo group, two small ones inoculated before their last menstruation, six within 30 days of their last menstruation and two more than 30 days after.
No results are known yet, except for a woman in the placebo group who had a miscarriage less than 20 weeks pregnant.
It is not uncommon for pregnant women not to be included in vaccine studies.
For example, expectant mothers were never included in influenza vaccine studies, but were encouraged by doctors to receive it after years of data showing that jaundice behaved normally in healthy participants.
Doctors say they are worried that pregnant women will not receive the coronavirus vaccine because millions of pregnant or breastfeeding women are in the workforce.
In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 75% of the health workforce is female and about 330,000 health workers may be pregnant or recently postpartum at the time the vaccine is implemented.
Moreover, CDC data show that patients pregnant with COVID-19 are twice as likely to be admitted to the ICU and three times more likely to need mechanical ventilation than women who are not pregnant with COVID-19. disease.
Recently, the Society for Maternal and Fetal Medicine asked the federal government to include pregnant and lactating women in vaccine studies.
Dr. Kristina Adams Waldorf, an obstetrician-gynecologist at the University of Washington School of Medicine, told DailyMail.com last month that she believes pregnant women should be vaccinated.
“We are completely puzzled by this statement from the World Health Organization,” said Adams Waldorf.
And no one understands where this recommendation comes from. We have excellent animal safety data, we understand biologically how this happens [disease] works and we know the risk faced by pregnant patients,
“One in 80 faces the chance to die. This is true.’