By Sue-Ann Wayow
PREGNANT women in Trinidad and Tobago hesitant to accept the Covid-19 Pfizer vaccine, are being assured that it offers protection with minimal effects.
Dr Karen Sohan, who heads the Diagnostic Mother and Baby clinic at Lange Park, Chaguanas, told AZPNews.com that before persons can agree to taking the vaccine, they needed to be educated.
On Wednesday, epidemiologist Dr Avery Hinds said a decision may be taken soon to allow women in their first trimester of pregnancy to become vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine.
On her website, Dr Sohan published information which she hopes will be used to guide pregnant women in making the right decisions.
She said, “Studies have suggested that pregnant women are three times more likely to be admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. Further, they have a 2.4-fold increased risk of requiring a ventilator (breathing machine) and a 1.7-fold increased risk of death due to Covid-19, compared with symptomatic non-pregnant patients.
“Pregnant patients with co-morbidities such as diabetes which is endemic in our population have a higher risk of an adverse outcome. In addition, it has been reported that the risk of still-birth and preterm delivery is twice as high in Covid-19 positive pregnant women compared with non-infected pregnant women.”
She also reported on new data from the United Kingdom (UK) Obstetric Surveillance System which reports information on all pregnant women admitted with symptoms of confirmed Covid-19 in pregnancy in the UK from the beginning of the pandemic.
Dr Sohan said that data showed that Covid-19 vaccinations offer effective protection from these risks. Vaccination data has been collected since February 1, 2021 and of the 742 women admitted since that date, only four have received a single dose of vaccine and none have received both doses.
This means that 99% of pregnant women admitted to hospital with symptomatic Covid-19 were unvaccinated, she said.
The study also suggested that the severity of pregnant women’s illness appears to have become worse with the Delta variant. Of the 3,371 pregnant women admitted to hospital with symptomatic Covid-19, 24% of women admitted in the first wave had moderate or severe disease compared with 36% hospitalised with the Alpha variant and 45% with the Delta variant.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine have all announced support of vaccination for pregnant women with the Pfizer or Moderna (the mRNA vaccines) at any gestation, citing data from the United States, where more than 130,000 pregnant women have had these Covid-19 vaccines and there have been no safety concerns, she stated.
The RCOG has also commented that “there are no reported concerns with the AstraZeneca vaccine” but advises there is less experience in pregnancy with the vaccine.
Dr Sohan said, “It is our duty as care-givers to provide useful information that will assist you in making an informed decision. The available evidence at this time suggests that the Pfizer vaccine is beneficial in preventing severe infection in pregnant women.”
