Pregnant women CAN be given Covid vaccines
PREGNANT women have been given the green light to get vaccinated after officials concluded that it posed no risk to unborn babies.
Until now the group had been told to avoid the jab as it had not undergone rigorous safety checks among expectant mothers.
But last night the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation changed its guidance to say that pregnant women should be offered a Covid vaccine – though not the AstraZeneca jab.
But officials said that this was not due to possible blood clot links.
Instead they said that the Pfizer and Moderna jabs had more pregnant women data from the US – where 90,000 such women have received the vaccine with no issue.
Professor Lucy Chappell at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said: ‘This... brings the UK into line with the US and other countries who have been offering the Covid-19 vaccine to pregnant women since December, and should provide reassurance to pregnant women, as well as those planning a pregnancy or breastfeeding.’
Dr Mary Ross-Davie at the Royal College of Midwives said: ‘This is a sensible step by the committee and one we welcome. It empowers pregnant women to make their own decisions about whether or not to receive the vaccine.’ n The manufacturers of the Moderna jab said yesterday that they had run into supply problems. The American firm – whose jab became the third to be approved in the UK – said the shortages would probably last until June.