Dr. Anthony Fauci says there have been “no red flags” after tens of thousands of pregnant women have received vaccines against COVID) -19.
Speaking at a White House briefing on Wednesday, the country’s top infectious disease expert said upcoming months have been given to both Pfizer-BioNTech’s and Moderna’s photos with no unexpected side effects.
“ I would like to point out that since the EUA 9 emergency use license and under the EUA, about 20,000 pregnant women have been vaccinated without red flags, as we say, and this is being monitored by the CDC and the FDA, ” Fauci said.
While pregnant women were not included in the clinical trials for either vaccine approved in the US, some clinical trials involving 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 – then backed off its advice, saying vaccines can be safely administered to expectant mothers.
It’s also because states like Illinois and New York are expanding their admission eligibility to pregnant women.
On Wednesday, Dr Anthony Fauci (pictured) said there have been no ‘red flags’ after 20,000 pregnant women received vaccines against the coronavirus.
Fauci said clinical trials with pregnant women will begin or are underway but do not require tens of thousands, just enough volunteers to demonstrate safety and efficacy (file image)
The WHO advised pregnant women not to get vaccinated – then went back to guidelines – which would have affected more than three million pregnant women in the U.S., as the country continues to vaccinate about 1.5 million people every day (above )
So far no vaccine studies have been conducted on pregnant women – and that is not expected to happen until after the first quarter of 2021 – meaning there is no safety data, WHO says.
Researchers want to determine if the 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 an earlier conversation with this group, the fact remains that we will start clinical trials, and some have already started. We won’t have to do tens of thousands of people, ”Fauci said.
“ We measured just enough in the hundreds to thousands needed for safety and whether or not we elicit an immune response equivalent to the immune response that has been proven to be protective among the studies that have now shown it to be 94 percent to 95 percent. is. effective. ‘
Doctors in the US oppose the exclusion of pregnant women from vaccine recommendations because of their high risk of serious illness from COVID-19 and say patients should decide for themselves whether they want the injection or not.
In a virtual briefing last month, Kate O’Brien, WHO’s director of immunization, stressed that clinical trials of the Moderna vaccine are needed in pregnant women.
“There is no reason to think there could be a problem in pregnancy, we just recognize that the data is not there right now,” she said.
However, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology is strongly against the exclusion of pregnant women from vaccination trials and counseling.
In a statement, the organization wrote that pregnant women should choose whether or not they want to be vaccinated and be informed of any risks.
“Pregnant individuals are more likely to have certain manifestations of serious illness related to COVID-19 infection, such as IC admission, mechanical ventilation, and death,” the statement read.
Furthermore, more than half of pregnant individuals also fall into another high-priority category, including front-line workers and those with underlying conditions.
“ACOG continues to insist that for pregnant individuals, the decision to vaccinate should be left to each patient in consultation with their trusted physician.”
There is currently no data on how many women became pregnant during the trial with Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine.
However, at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee meeting on whether or not to approve Pfizer’s vaccine – the only other shot approved in the U.S. – researchers revealed that 23 pregnancies occurred in the process as of November 14.
Many gynecologists oppose excluding pregnant women from vaccine recommendations because pregnant COVID-19 patients are twice as likely to be admitted to ICUs and three times more likely to be on mechanical ventilation (above)
Of the pregnancies, 12 belonged to the vaccine group and 11 to the placebo group.
In the vaccine group, four were immunized prior to their last menses, four within 30 days of their last menses, and four more than 30 days after.
In the placebo group, two contractions were vaccinated prior to their last period, six within 30 days of their last period and two more than 30 days after.
No outcomes are yet known, except for one woman in the placebo group who miscarried after a pregnancy of less than 20 weeks.
It is not uncommon not to include pregnant women in vaccine studies.
For example, expectant mothers were never included in studies of flu shots, but were encouraged by doctors to get it after years of data showing that the shot was behaving normally in healthy participants.
Doctors say they are concerned about pregnant women not getting the coronavirus vaccine because millions of pregnant or breastfeeding women make up the workforce.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 75 percent of health care workers are female, and about 330,000 health workers could be “pregnant or recently postpartum at the time the vaccine is implemented.”
In addition, data from the CDC shows that pregnant COVID-19 patients are twice as likely to be admitted to ICUs and three times more likely to be on mechanical ventilation than non-pregnant women with the disease.
Recently, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine called on the federal government to involve 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 amazed at this statement from the World Health Organization,” said Adams Waldorf.
And no one quite understands where this recommendation comes from. We have excellent animal safety data, we understand biologically how this is [disease] works and we know the risk that pregnant patients face,
‘One in 80 has a chance of dying. That is real.’