‘Pregnant women can have vaccine if the benefits outweigh risk’
PREGNANT and breastfeeding women can take either of the two approved coronavirus vaccines “when the potential benefits outweigh the risks”, the UK’s medicines regulator said.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine can also now be administered to people with a wide range of food and medicines allergies, experts said at a Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) briefing.
However, people allergic to ingredients in the vaccine should not take it, MHRA chief executive Dr June Raine said.
And the interval between people receiving the first and second doses of the Pfizer/ BioNTech vaccine has been increased to “at least” 21 days.
Dr June Raine, MHRA chief executive, set out a series of updates for usage of the Pfizer vaccine, which was approved on December 2, in a briefing yesterday.
She said previous advice had not recommended its use by pregnant and breastfeeding women due to “an initial lack of evidence on a precautionary basis”.
She said: “But now that we have reviewed further data that has become available, the Commission on Human Medicines has advised that the vaccine can be considered for use in pregnancy when the potential benefits outweigh the risks, following an individual discussion with every woman.
“Women should always be discussing benefits and risks of having the vaccine with their health professional, and women who are breastfeeding can now also be given the vaccine, subject to that discussion.”
MHRA written guidance published yesterday about the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, approved hours earlier, said preliminary animal studies do not indicate direct or indirect harmful effects for pregnancy, embryo-foetal development, childbirth or postnatal development.
It recommends the vaccine should only be considered for use in pregnancy when the potential benefits outweigh the potential risks for the mother and foetus. It said it is not known if the Oxford vaccine is excreted in human milk.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) now recommends that either vaccine should be considered in pregnancy where the risk of exposure to Covid-19 is “high and cannot be avoided”, or where the woman has underlying conditions heightening her risk of serious complications.