- Most pregnant women and mothers said they would receive a free, safe COVID-19 vaccine last fall.
- Fewer women in the US, Russia and Australia said they would receive the vaccine.
- Pregnant women may worry about harming their fetuses, even if the vaccine has been shown to be safe so far.
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Pregnant women are eligible to receive their COVID-19 vaccines in the United States and are prioritized in some states, but the possibility of being vaccinated or not depends largely on individual choice.
A survey of pregnant women and mothers of young children around the world recently found that most would be willing to receive a free and safe COVID-19 vaccine, although acceptance was less in the United States, Russia and Australia.
The questionnaire was sent to almost 18,000 women in 16 countries last fall, when this vaccine was hypothetical, from researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health TH Chan. Their results were published today in the European Journal of Epidemiology.
Overall, 52% of the interviewed pregnant women and 73% of the non-pregnant mothers surveyed said they would receive the COVID-19 vaccine if it was safe, free and 90% effective in preventing infections. Of all women surveyed, 69% said they would vaccinate their children.
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been safely administered to more than 20,000 pregnant women. Both injections had efficacy rates in excess of 90% in clinical trials, so the vaccines available in the United States closely resemble the hypothetical vaccine described in the research.
Vaccine acceptance was lower in the USA, Russia and Australia
Some countries had greater acceptance of the vaccine than others in the autumn survey, the researchers found.
In the United States and Russia, less than 45% of pregnant respondents and less than 56% of non-pregnant respondents said they would receive the COVID-19 vaccine themselves. The researchers suspected that this trend could be related to the COVID-19 denial prevalent in both countries.
Australia and New Zealand also had relatively low vaccine acceptance rates, but the researchers thought this was more likely to be related to lower COVID-19 case counts – the pandemic simply posed less of a threat to Australians when the research was conducted there.
Vaccine acceptance was highest among pregnant women and mothers of young children in India, the Philippines, Brazil and Mexico, according to the survey results.
Providers should listen to the concerns of pregnant women before explaining the science behind the vaccine
In general, those who were reluctant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine cited the lack of confidence in the process or the fear that the vaccine’s development would be hasty or politically motivated, as reasons for their hesitation.
Pregnant women have additional concerns about how the vaccine may affect the fetus’ development, the research found.
Based on how the COVID-19 vaccines work – they do not contain live viruses – the vaccines are unlikely to cause any harm to developing babies, experts told Insider.
As for the speed of the vaccine development process, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading infectious disease specialist in the United States, has repeatedly emphasized that the technology used for the COVID-19 vaccines has taken years to prepare. “The speed process has in no way compromised security, nor has it compromised scientific integrity,” Fauci told a news conference at the White House in November. “It was a reflection of the extraordinary scientific advances in these types of vaccines, which allowed us to do things in months that actually took years before. So, I really want to resolve this concern that people have about this.”
Emily Adhikari, medical director of perinatal infectious diseases at Parkland Hospital in Texas, told Insider that doctors should listen to and validate these concerns, while providing a clear message about the vaccine’s safety.
“Pregnant women face additional challenges in weighing the benefits of protection against COVID-19 for themselves with the fear and guilt associated with making a decision that they perceive can harm an unborn baby,” wrote Adhikari, who was not affiliated with the research. email to Insider.
“These fears need not be based on science – and there is increasing evidence that they are not – to be real for a mother,” she added.