Safety of COVID-19 Vaccination in Pregnancy and Concerns Regarding Vaccination Safety Among Pregnant Women

Abstract

Pregnant women are at a high risk of severe illness from eOVID-19. Yet, the scarcity of data on safety of eOVID-19 vaccines is a barrier to vaccine uptake in pregnant women. We studied the safety of eOVID-19 vaccination by analyzing data from patients who delivered during December 2021-March 2022 at a single tertiary care hospital, through a retrospective cohort study design. Short-term adverse events of eOVID-19 vaccination and the major reasons for refusing eOVID-19 vaccines were also assessed in our study population which comprised of women aged 16-50. Women who had prior eOVID-19 infection and multiple gestations were excluded from the study. Out of 306 women who participated in this study, 98 were vaccinated at some time during pregnancy. Logistic regressions were used to compare vaccinated women with unvaccinated group to find association of vaccination uptake with several factors such as socio demographics, obstetrical history and co-morbidities. Furthermore, our analyses concluded that the major factor for vaccine reluctance among pregnant women is safety concern i.e., supposed harm to the fetus and lack of safety data. There was no evidence of a higher rate of short-term side effects of vaccination or a higher risk of adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcomes including, still birth, preterm birth, placental abruption, uterine rupture, maternal death during hospitalization, admission to intensive care unit, postpartum hemorrhage, neonatal leU admission, low birth weight (for all variables p>0.05) in vaccinated vs. unvaccinated women. eOVID-19 vaccination, including inactivated vaccines appear to be safe for use during pregnancy and is not linked with any adverse outcomes.