SPRINGFIELD — When medical facilities across the country begin vaccination against COVID-19, many pregnant people (the group not studied in the first clinical trial) are wondering if the vaccine can be safely received. I will. To help pregnant people decide if a vaccine is right for them, Baystate Health doctors have released a decision guide that has received national attention and distribution.
Health officials say most people can safely get the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, which were approved for emergency use in the United States in early December. However, clinical trials were not open to pregnant people, resulting in a lack of information about pregnant or lactating parents.
Elizabeth Schoenfeld, a Baystate emergency physician and researcher, said the lack of this data does not necessarily mean that pregnant people cannot be safely vaccinated.
“There is no evidence of danger during pregnancy,” Schoenfeld said. “There is no evidence that it is safe during pregnancy.”
However, Baystate doctors say various factors support that the vaccine is worth considering for pregnant people, and interested people decide if the vaccine is suitable for them. You need to talk to your doctor to do this.
Physicians cannot point out guidance from Pfizer or Moderna on the safety of vaccination of pregnant individuals, but doctors “know that pregnant people are at very high risk of COVID complications. “We are,” said Katie Barker, a physician at the Baystate Wesson Women’s Group. “We know there are a lot of pregnant people on the front lines,” including doctors, nurses, and housekeeping staff in medical facilities, one of the first groups to provide vaccines.
“There is a strong desire to end this pandemic, so there is a strong desire for people to understand what they can do with vaccines,” Barker said. “People are asking for guidance when there are areas where hard data is lacking.”
Baystate colleagues, including Barker, Schoenfeld, and doctors Lauren Westlake and Amanda Westlake, who played a major role in creating the guide, hoped to be able to provide this advice to parents who expect decision support. is. 6-page documentation available at Baystate websiteShows the benefits, risks, and expert recommendations for pregnant people considering the COVID-19 vaccine.
According to Schoenfeld, different vaccines provide different guidance to pregnant individuals. While some vaccines, such as tetanus and diphtheria vaccines, can be safely given to pregnant people, vaccines such as the varicella vaccine are not safe for this population.
Schoenfeld explained that the COVID-19 vaccine, which uses mRNA technology, acts as a “recipe card-like”. Vaccines that do not contain the raw COVID-19 virus and cannot infect humans with the disease recognize small fragments of the virus, the peplomer, and encourage the body to develop antibodies. This “recipe card” breaks down quickly from the body, she said, and the vaccine mechanism does not indicate that it should cause problems during pregnancy.
This guide advises pregnant people at high risk of exposure to COVID-19, or those with risk factors for severe infection, to seriously consider vaccination. For those who aren’t at high risk, such as those who live in households where everyone can be socially distant throughout pregnancy, “it may make sense to wait for more information.” The guide says. According to Schoenfeld, the guidance is under development and the CDC is collecting data on pregnant women who were vaccinated during the deployment of the vaccine.
But until more data is available, pregnant people should feel that they have the option and ability to make their own informed decisions, doctors said.
Baystate doctors initially had their colleagues in mind when creating the guide, but “we decided to share it with everyone we could,” Barker said. “Once I did it, I got great feedback about it and it started there.”
The guide has since been featured in medical facilities across the country, including the Boston Medical Center and Kaiser in Southern California, and translated into languages such as Spanish and Russian.
“We really believe that the decision to get the COVID vaccine should be a decision made in collaboration with the person providing care during pregnancy or lactation,” Barker said. I am.
“I think the important thing about this is to allow pregnant and lactating people to make their own choices,” she added. “It’s a choice they should be able to make with the help of their healthcare providers.”
You can contact Jacquelyn Voghel at jvoghel @ gazettenet.com.
