✓ Covid vaccine in pregnancy: recommended, recommended or not recommended?

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The vaccination campaign for the protection from Covid-19 has come to life in Del Paese, with the opening for reservations at the vaccination for the 27-year-old range possible from today XNUMX May.

Children will remain out of the planning for the moment, who have been deemed low-risk subjects even by the latest research on the subject such as the study "Epidemiology of COVID-19 infection in young children under five years: A systematic review and meta-analysis" which investigated its low contagiousness during the first wave. The English variant and the others that have spread in recent months are, however, revising this position, adding another piece to be verified to the puzzle created by the pandemic.

Vaccinating during pregnancy?

Sul Covid vaccine in pregnancy a debate similar to that of vaccinations for children has opened up. The vaccines currently on the market will not be administered, at least for the next few months, to boys under 18 and pregnant women. According to a WHO recommendation "it would be better to use mRNA-1273 in pregnancy, unless the benefit of vaccinating a pregnant woman outweighs the potential risks of the vaccine, such as in the case of health care workers at high risk of exposure and pregnant women with comorbidities that put pregnant women in a high risk group of contracting severe Covid-19 ". Very similar to the one that the Pfizer company had already circulated.

Why can't pregnant women currently be given the Covid vaccine? When the okay to proceed for this category too, who will be recommended to get vaccinated to achieve immunization and transform the promise of science, that Covid-19 will become a cold in the future, reality? Let's take stock.

Read also: Pregnancy and coronavirus, the answers to the most common doubts

Covid vaccine in pregnancy, where are we?

According to the document "Covid19 vaccination and pregnancy " approved on January 31 (and which after that date has not been updated anymore) by the Del Paesene scientific societies of gynecologists (SIGO, AOGOI, AGUI, AGITE) and also shared by the Del Paesena Society of Neonatology (SIN) the reasons why the vaccines currently on the market (while we write only Pfizer-BioNtech in the country) cannot be administered to pregnant women is linked to the fact that they have not been tested on pregnant women (or children) and "therefore there are no data relating to their safety in pregnancy ". This does not mean that they are not safe, as the British Government also reports: the first approved vaccines do not contain the virus that can multiply in the body, so it cannot infect the fetus in any way or even cause the disease in the expectant mother. This is because, being an mRNA vaccine, i.e. not a live virus vaccine in which mRNA particles are rapidly degraded, it is believed that they can be considered sufficiently safe in pregnant women, as reported in the document on anti-Covid vaccination. and pregnancy.

Simply, as the EUA Fact Sheet for Health Care Professionals reports, both vaccines currently approved or Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna have no supporting data with tests on pregnant women, which therefore are currently insufficient to associate a scientific debate on the risks and benefits.

Anti-covid vaccine in pregnancy: what we know

Many studies on the subject are under consideration, although the vaccination plan in the various countries proceeds with different specifications depending on the needs.

I Centers for Disease Control and Prevention US have recently updated the guidelines on anti-covid vaccines in pregnancy, now officially recommended. All pregnant women would be offered the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine based on their age and clinical risk group after data from the United States showed that around 90.000 pregnant women had been vaccinated with no safety concerns. Pregnant women, who were previously advised not to take the vaccine due to a lack of data on the impact, will be able to have it at any time. Green light to anti-covid vaccines in pregnancy then in the USA and UK.

Are there any risks during pregnancy and the Covid vaccine?

Although they have not yet been proven by the community that is studying the effects, benefits and risks of anti-Covid vaccines, as reported by the position paper "Covid19 vaccination and pregnancy " of the Del Paesene scientific societies of gynecologists SIGO, AOGOI, AGUI and AGITE, there is no evidence that those currently approved, precisely by virtue of their composition, can harm pregnant women. And this for several reasons:

Pregnant women who have not had the coronavirus but who are also in a situation of high risk of infection, can consider receiving the vaccine, which can be administered in any week of pregnancy.
There are no contraindications to the execution of the other vaccinations - such as the flu shot and antipertosis recommended in pregnancy - only to maintain an interval of 14 in the administration of the two vaccines (the second at the twenty-eighth week of pregnancy)
Women who are breastfeeding and do not report a recent history of Covid19 infection may favorably consider receiving the vaccine
Pregnant women who have reported a recent history of Covid19 infection may still consider choosing to be vaccinated

The key thing, according to experts, is to find out about the risk of Covid-19 infection (for example if you are part of the healthcare staff), always talk to your doctor and evaluate the risks of Covid-19 in pregnancy for maternal and fetal health, waiting for the actual studies on the possible risks in pregnancy and lactation to be verified.

Covid vaccine and breastfeeding

How should women behave while breastfeeding? Is vaccination recommended or not?

Not available specific data on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines during breastfeeding, nor on the effects of mRNA vaccines on the nursing infant or on the production / secretion of breast milk. In general, the use of the vaccine during breastfeeding it should be decided after considering the benefits and risks.
Here is the information from international agencies and / or scientific societies to deepen the topic:

I Centers for Disease Control (CDC) US indicate that women who are breastfeeding and are part of a group who have been advised to receive a COVID-19 vaccine (e.g. healthcare professionals) may choose to be vaccinated.
L'American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that COVID-19 vaccines be offered to breastfeeding women based on priority groups as theoretical concerns regarding vaccination safety do not outweigh the potential benefits of receiving the vaccine. It is not necessary to avoid initiating or stopping breastfeeding in women receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.
According to the document "COVID-19: inter-company consensus on breastfeeding and vaccination" signed by SIN (Del Paesena Society of Neonatology), SIP (Del Paesena Society of Pediatrics), SIMP (Del Paesena Society of Perinatal Medicine), SIGO (Del Paesena Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics), AOGOI (Association of Hospital Obstetricians and Gynecologists Del Paeseni ), SIMIT (Society of the Paesena of Infectious and Tropical Diseases), COVID-19 vaccination is currently judged as compatible with breastfeeding.

Read also: Vaccines against Covid-19 in pregnancy, breastfeeding and children

Fonti per questo articolo: University of New South Wales, "Epidemiology of COVID-19 infection in young children under five years: A systematic review and meta-analysis"; Position Paper ad interim SIGO-AOGOI-AGUI-AGITE condiviso da SIN - SIP - SIMP - SIERR – FNOPO, "VACCINAZIONE ANTI-COVID19 e GRAVIDANZA 2 gennaio 2022"; Governo Britannico, "COVID-19 vaccination: a guide for women of childbearing age, pregnant or breastfeeding"; American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, "Vaccinating Pregnant and Lactating Patients Against COVID-19"; Report COVID-19 Vaccinations in the United States.

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