The World Health Organization (WHO) changed its recommendation on Friday regarding the vaccination of pregnant women against coronavirus, lifting its previous reservations and adopting a less cautious attitude, which had received a lot of criticism and differed from the favorable Recommended by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Several experts had expressed frustration with the previous WHO placement, which did not recommend that pregnant women be vaccinated with the Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines unless the women were in a high-risk group. The new WHO statement, according to the New York Times, is that based on what we know about this type of vaccine, we have no specific reason to believe that there are specific risks that could outweigh the benefits. of vaccination of pregnant women ”.
This new phraseology is largely aligned with that of the CDC. Although the Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have not been tested in pregnant women, animal toxicity tests have not shown any harmful effects. In addition, mRNA technology is generally considered safe.
"I am very pleased to see that the WHO has changed its guidelines on this important issue. The WHO's most encouraging language provides an important opportunity for pregnant women to be vaccinated and protected from the serious risks of Covid-19. "This remarkably quick WHO review is good news for pregnant women and their babies," said Dr. Denise Jamieson, a professor of gynecology at Emory University in Atlanta and a member of the team of experts on Covid-19 at the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
The College is one of the scientific bodies that has pushed Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna to speed up their vaccine trials in pregnant women. Pfizer said it would conduct such a test in the coming months, while Moderna said it would monitor closely and record any side effects in pregnant women getting their own vaccine. Pregnant women are traditionally excluded from clinical trials of drugs and vaccines. But because vaccines are generally considered safe, the recommendation for pregnant women since the 1960s is to get the flu and other vaccines.
Source: KYPE