Pfizer vaccine pregnancy trials spark controversy
News that Pfizer-BioNTech is enrolling pregnant women for clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine triggered discussions in China on whether pregnant women should be included in such trials. Some Chinese health experts believe it’s too risky and pregnant women should not get any vaccination for trials, while some said the health risks of pregnant women getting vaccinated are much lower than after contracting the virus.
Pfizer-BioNTech said Thursday that it is beginning clinical trials in pregnant women for its COVID-19 vaccine, and is attempting to enroll about 4,000 pregnant women as volunteers from countries like the US, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mozambique, Spain and the UK. Volunteers should be over 18 and are 24 to 34 weeks into their pregnancy, according to media reports.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends pregnant women and part of a group recommended to receive COVID-19 vaccine, such as healthcare personnel, although only limited data is available on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines administered during pregnancy.
In China, pregnant women are not recommended to receive COVID-19 vaccines, and other vaccines are also generally not recommended for them due to limited research data.
Yang Zhanqiu, a virologist at Wuhan University, said that pregnant women should not be included in such trials as they are generally not recommended to get any kind of vaccinations due to a high risk to them. He said they should get COVID-19 vaccines after delivery.
However, Feng Duojia, president of the China Vaccine Industry Association, said that the risk of side effects of COVID-19 vaccine for pregnant women is much lower than the health risks posed after they get infected with the virus, and pregnant women should be among the priority groups to be protected by COVID-19 vaccines.
He said although China is not recommending pregnant women get vaccinated out of caution, they would receive the vaccines after results of related clinical trials prove efficacious.