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Covid: Only 3,400 pregnant women vaccinated in Pune since July 20
The central government has allowed Covid vaccination for pregnant women since July and starting July 20 till Friday, we have been able to vaccinate over 3,400 women. As per the annual records, given the population of the city which could now be over five million, we assume that there are over 66,000 women who are pregnant, say Pune officials
PUNE: Despite the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) having found Covid-19 vaccines safe for pregnant women in July this year, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) ever since has managed to vaccinate only over 3,400 out of the nearly 66,000 pregnant women at any given point of time in a city with an estimated population of 50 lakh.
Dr Suryakant Devkar, PMC immunisation officer, said, “We have vaccinated over 3,478 pregnant women in Pune city through various campaigns like special sessions for women, priority sessions for pregnant women or those with special abilities. The central government has allowed vaccination for pregnant women since July and starting July 20 till Friday, we have been able to vaccinate over 3,400 women.”
However, vaccinating over 3,400 out of the nearly 66,000 pregnant women at any given point of time in the city as per PMC records is just nominal. Dr Vaishali Jadhav, assistant health officer, said, “As per the annual records, given the population of the city which could now be over five million, we assume that there are over 66,000 women who are pregnant.”
The ICMR approved vaccination against Covid-19 for pregnant women and even those breastfeeding after both vaccines were found safe and pregnant women were found to be vulnerable and in need of the vaccines.
Dr Sanjay Gupte, former president of the Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Society of India and city-based obstetrician, said, “Despite creating awareness among women that vaccinating pregnant women would actually help the child, women are hesitant to take the vaccine because of side effects post vaccination like fever or rumours regarding clotting and other such issues. Also, some women who have difficulty conceiving or are planning to have a child may not take the vaccine fearing that it may either lead to abortion or make it difficult to conceive. Now that the number of new cases is going down, the need for the vaccine is also going down among pregnant women.”
Dr Gupte added that there have been multiple studies proving that the antibodies formed in the mother post vaccination are transferred to the child in due course, thereby providing protection to the child as well and so, such fear and vaccine hesitancy is baseless and every pregnant woman should get the jab.
