May not have takers in India as Covaxin, Covishield makers advised otherwise
The World Health Organization (WHO) has altered its guidance for pregnant women who wish to receive the coronavirus jab, saying those at high risk of exposure to Covid-19 or who have comorbidities may be vaccinated.
However, the WHO suggestions might not find favour in India where Covaxin and Covishield vaccine manufacturers Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India (SII) respectively in their factsheets have clearly mentioned that pregnant and lactating women should not get the shots as they have not been part of any anti-coronavirus vaccine clinical trial so far.
The Union Health Ministry too has made it clear to the States during the launch of the vaccination drive on January 16 that pregnant and lactating women have not been a part of any Covid-19 vaccine clinical trial so far. “Therefore, women who are pregnant or not sure of their pregnancy and lactating women should not receive Covid-19 vaccine at this time,” the Ministry said.
The WHO’s earlier guidance did not recommend pregnant women to be inoculated even though data indicated that pregnancy increased the risk of developing severe illness from the virus.
The WHO had warned that vaccines produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have not been tested in pregnant women, though it does not have a reason to believe the shots would pose a specific risk.
“While pregnancy puts women at higher risk of severe COVID-19, very little data are available to assess vaccine safety in pregnancy,” the health organization said.
“Nevertheless, based on what we know about this kind of vaccine, we don’t have any specific reason to believe there will be specific risks that would outweigh the benefits of vaccination for pregnant women.”
Monday, 01 February 2021 | PNS | New Delhi
