US recommends covid vaccine for pregnant women
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States (CDC), recommended on Wednesday that pregnant women get vaccinated since they are “more likely” to become seriously ill from covid-19.
The CDC relies on new data to support this recommendation that they extend to women who are breastfeeding or those who are trying to get pregnant now or in the future.
“Pregnant women and those who have recently been pregnant are more likely to become seriously ill from COVID-19 compared to non-pregnant people,” the recommendation states.
The advisory reiterates that the coronavirus vaccine is recommended for “all persons aged 12 years or older” and can protect “from a serious illness caused by covid-19.”
On April 23, the director of the CDC, Rochelle Walensky, had recommended that pregnant mothers be vaccinated after a study carried out by that agency revealed that no danger was observed for women or the fetus.
The study, published in t The New England Journal of Medicine, disclosed the preliminary results of an investigation in pregnant women immunized with vaccines developed with messenger RNA technology, the same used to produce the doses of Pfizer and Moderna.
The CDC issued the recommendation as the United States has redoubled its efforts to raise the percentage of people immunized in the wake of the spike in coronavirus infections attributed to the delta variant.
58.8% of the population over 12 years of age, which is equivalent to 166.7 million people, has completed their full vaccination schedule in the United States, compared to 69.9% who have received at least the first dose.
According to the CDC, between January 22, 2020, and August 9, there were 105,645 cases of pregnant women who contracted covid-19, and in that same period, 124 died as a result of the virus.
The United States accumulates more than 36 million infections and 618,457 deaths from the virus, which remains the country most affected by the pandemic in the world, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.
