Vaccination in pregnancy greatly reduces risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19, and protects babies up to 6 months after birth

From the early days of the pandemic, it has been evident that a COVID-19 infection in pregnancy can be serious. Hundreds of studies from around the world have consistently shown that a COVID-19 infection in pregnancy carries significantly higher risk for admission to intensive care units (ICU), invasive ventilation, preeclampsia and death, compared to other COVID-19 patients. The data is stark: there is a five times higher risk of ICU admission and 22 times higher risk of maternal mortality due to COVID-19 infections in pregnancy. There are also considerable risks to the fetus, with a higher risk of preterm delivery, low birth weight as well as serious fetal outcomes such as stillbirth, and neonatal mortality. Interestingly, and not entirely surprisingly, studies have found that stillbirths and neonatal deaths occurred predominantly in those who were unvaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 at the time of infection. The same study also showed that 90 per cent of...