The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, speaks during a press conference at the White House, led by the White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, at the White House’s James Brady Press Briefing Room on 21 January 2021 in Washington, DC.
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There have been no “warning signs” in the more than 10,000 pregnant women who have received vaccines from Covid-19 so far, White House health consultant Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Wednesday.
Pregnant women and young children were excluded from clinical trials of vaccines in the USA, as is typical in experimental vaccine research. This has led to some concerns that there is insufficient data to ensure that vaccines are safe among pregnant women, but Fauci said the Food and Drug Administration has yet to see a reason to worry.
“The FDA, as part of the typical follow-up you have after the initial issue of any [emergency use authorization] we have found out so far, and we have to be careful, but so far, no warning signs about this, about pregnant women, “said Fauci on Wednesday in an interview with The Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Howard Bauchner.
Since the authorization of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines in December, more than 10,000 pregnant women, many of whom were health professionals, have been vaccinated, said Fauci. He noted that there is evidence that a coronavirus infection may increase the risk of an adverse pregnancy outcome, which may be the reason why many pregnant health professionals have decided to get the vaccine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have advised pregnant women to consult their doctor about whether or not they should be vaccinated against Covid-19. But the World Health Organization took a more cautious tone, saying last week that only pregnant women who are at high risk of exposure to Covid-19 should be vaccinated.
As for young children, the FDA has only authorized Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine for use in people aged 16 and over in the United States. The Modern vaccine is only authorized for use in people aged 18 or over in the country.
Fauci said “scaling-down studies” for younger children are underway. These studies will examine the safety and efficacy of vaccines in increasingly young children. Data from these studies are expected to be available “in the coming months,” said Fauci.
“We will not have to do effectiveness tests of 30,000 to 44,000 people in each age group,” he noted.