Women who are pregnant can now take the coronavirus vaccine, the Union ministry of health and family welfare announced on Friday, joining the list of countries that have expanded the eligibility criteria to help protect expecting mothers and their unborn child from the viral illness.
The health ministry said it made the decision on the recommendations of two expert panels: the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) and the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC).
“Based on recommendations from National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI), the Union Ministry of Health and family Welfare (MoHFW) today approved the vaccination of pregnant women against Covid-19… The decision has been communicated to all the States/ UTs to implement it under the ongoing National Covid Vaccination Program,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that the NEGVAG too unanimously backed the decision.
The move was also declared at a ministry briefing on Friday. “The vaccine is useful for the pregnant woman and it should be given,” said Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) director-general Dr Balram Bhargava.
Countries such as the US, the UK, Canada and Israel have already opened up their vaccine drive to include pregnant women.
{{/usCountry}}Countries such as the US, the UK, Canada and Israel have already opened up their vaccine drive to include pregnant women.
{{/usCountry}}The US’s Centres of Disease Control and Prevention also encourages pregnant women to get the jab, saying that the group is at a higher risk of severe illness from Covid-19 and initial studies have not identified any concerns about the safety of the shots so far. The Union health ministry also said on Friday that pregnant women, who get infected with Covid-19 and have co-morbidies, have higher chances of pre-term delivery and birth complications.
Women who are expecting a child can take the vaccine at any period during their pregnancy, Dr NK Arora who heads NTAGI, said in another statement issued by the ministry. “It does not matter whether the vaccine is being given in the first, second or third trimester,” he said.
Dr Arora said that every woman who is administered the jab and the foetus will be monitored for any signs of discomfort. “Foetal outcomes, that is, growth of the child in mother’s womb, will also be monitored,” he added.
Earlier this week, the health ministry also released a fact-sheet advising pregnant women to take the jab and said the risks outweighed the benefits of vaccination.
Dr Arora said, “One in 10 lakh (1 million) women have experienced bleeding or formation of clots. The symptoms that manifest are severe headache, vomiting along with headache, stomachache along with vomiting tendency or also breathing problems. By and large, this sort of three or four symptoms may happen and generally it happens within a period of three to four weeks after vaccination. In such cases, family members should quickly take the pregnant woman to a hospital where vaccination is done. The reason for illness can be investigated at the hospital and required treatment can be provided to her.”
Previous studies have shown that mothers who were inoculated with the mRNA vaccines (Moderna, Pfizer-BioNtech’s shots) during their pregnancy passed on the antibodies against Covid-19 to their child as well.
Doctors agree that the decision has merit but said the government will have to tackle vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women.
“There is great reluctance in pregnant women to take the Covid-19 vaccine... Pregnant women will be worried about the side-effects on their baby and the issues related to blood clots, etc. This needs to be addressed well,” said Dr Shivani Sachdev Gour, a Delhi-based gynaecologist.