Page 26 - REAL ISSUES FOR COVID-19 VACCINE IMMUNIZATION & Pregnancy, Breastfeeding Mothers

upper limit of 33 weeks? Ladies and gentlemen, if you want to vaccinate pregnant mothers,
you want to vaccinate them before the late second trimester, before the third trimester when
the implications are significant. Hence, our upper limit is of 33 weeks and this is based on our
recommendations.

If you vaccinate the mother, there is no evidence that it protects the baby as compared to the
Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis) vaccination which has got some neonatal protection and
the influenza vaccination as well has got some neonatal protections. Based on currently
literature, vaccinating the mother does not protect the baby at this moment of time. When you
give the mother COVID-19 vaccines, she can also take Anti-D vaccine and other vaccines,
but the recommended interval is at least 14 days.

Who are the high-risk pregnant mothers?

Who are the high-risk pregnant mothers? The list is in Figure 11, but it is not extensive.
These are the recommended patients who should be included in Phase II. Those who are
elderly, those who are obese, those who have got underlying significant medical conditions,
those who are immunocompromised, those who are on immunosuppressive therapies, and
those who have had splenectomy. These are the patients who are recommended to have the
COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy.

Figure 11: Who are considered high risk in pregnancy?