The World Health Organization's (WHO) interim guidance to allow vaccination of pregnant women when the benefits outweigh the risks has cleared the way for India to expand its immunisation drive to this subgroup. The World Health Organization announced last week that pregnant women who are at high risk of covid exposure and have co-morbid conditions may be vaccinated.
Despite the fact that many countries have begun vaccinating pregnant women, India has been conservative in its approach, citing a lack of clinical trial data.
Vinod Paul, NITI Aayog member (health) and chair of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC), stated last week that covid-19 vaccines should not be given to pregnant women for the time being and that India will clarify the situation in a few days based on new scientific inputs.
He stated that the vaccines were developed in a very short period of time, and that pregnant women are typically not included in initial trials due to safety concerns. However, the government stated that the full clinical trial data for Covaxin and Covishield will be available soon, after which approvals may be granted.
Gynaecologists have urged the Indian government to vaccinate pregnant women, a potentially large and high-risk population with low immunity that should be vaccinated as soon as possible.
“By vaccinating pregnant women, we not only protect pregnant women and child, but also all the people they come in contact with. Apart from this, the recent wave has shown us that pregnant women are getting severely affected. Morbidity and mortality seem to be much higher than what we had anticipated. Hence, it is always a wise option to consider vaccinating pregnant women," said Archana Dhawan Bajaj, a Delhi-based gynaecologist at Nurture IVF Clinic.
“Covid-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer should be brought to India at the earliest as a priority, because they have been tested on pregnant women in the US. They have found no detrimental effects of the use of vaccines on pregnant women and unborn children. However, since it may not be logistically possible to vaccinate all with Moderna and Pfizer, the need of the hour is also to evaluate Covaxin and Covishield as possible alternatives for vaccinating pregnant women within the country," she said.
Pregnant women should be informed about the risks of covid-19 in pregnancy, the likely benefits of vaccination in the local epidemiologic context, and the current limitations of safety data in pregnant women, according to the WHO.
