Skip to content

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/

Menu

  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships
    • From the Collection

      Changing Child Care

      Illustration of a woman feeding a baby a bottle
      • As climate change worsens hurricane season in Louisiana, doulas are ensuring parents can safely feed their babies

        Jessica Kutz · May 5
      • Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito argued abortion isn’t an economic issue. But is that true?

        Chabeli Carrazana · May 4
      • Pregnant people are at 'greater risk' in states hit hard by wildfire smoke, air pollution, new report shows

        Jessica Kutz · April 20
    • From the Collection

      Next-Gen GOP

      Illustration of a woman riding an elephant
      • A banner year for Republican women

        Amanda Becker · November 11
      • Republican women could double representation in the U.S. House

        Amanda Becker · November 4
      • U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik wants to elect more Republican women into office

        Barbara Rodriguez · August 13
    • From the Collection

      On The Rise

      Illustration of three women marching
      • Jessica Cisneros takes on the last anti-abortion U.S. House Democrat

        Amanda Becker · February 25
      • Meet J. Michelle Childs, South Carolina judge and possible Supreme Court contender

        Candice Norwood · February 18
      • ‘The bench is loaded’: A record number of Latinas are running for governor

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 11
    • From the Collection

      Pandemic Within a Pandemic

      Illustration of four people marching for Black Lives Matter with coronavirus as the backdrop
      • Some LGBTQ+ people worry that the COVID-19 vaccine will affect HIV medication. It won’t.

        Orion Rummler · November 23
      • Why are more men dying from COVID? It’s a complicated story of nature vs. nurture, researchers say

        Mariel Padilla · September 22
      • Few incarcerated women were released during COVID. The ones who remain have struggled.

        Candice Norwood · August 17
    • From the Collection

      Portraits of a Pandemic

      Illustration of a woman wearing a mask and holding up the coronavirus
      • For family caregivers, COVID is a mental health crisis in the making

        Shefali Luthra · October 8
      • A new database tracks COVID-19’s effects on sex and gender

        Shefali Luthra · September 15
      • Pregnant in a pandemic: The 'perfect storm for a crisis'

        Shefali Luthra · August 25
    • From the Collection

      The 19th Explains

      People walking from many articles to one article where they can get the context they need on an issue.
      • The 19th Explains: The governor’s races we’re watching in 2022

        Barbara Rodriguez · May 3
      • The 19th Explains: What to know about Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing

        Candice Norwood, Terri Rupar · March 21
      • The 19th Explains: Colleges are dropping the SAT in admissions. That’s a good thing for most girls.

        Nadra Nittle · March 3
    • From the Collection

      The Electability Myth

      Illustration of three women speaking at podiums
      • Do term limits help women candidates? New York could be a new testing ground

        Barbara Rodriguez · January 11
      • Girls are being socialized to lose political ambition — and it starts younger than we realized

        Barbara Rodriguez · September 23
      • Kathy Hochul’s rise in New York spotlights the barriers to women becoming governors

        Barbara Rodriguez · August 23
    • From the Collection

      The Impact of Aging

      A number of older people walking down a path of information.
      • Woman alleges that an assisted living facility denied her admission because she is transgender

        Sara Luterman · November 8
      • LGBTQ+ seniors fear having to go back in closet for the care they need

        Sara Luterman · October 12
      • The pandemic continues to strain nursing homes. What happens if a lot of them close?

        Mariel Padilla · September 9
    • From the Collection

      Voting Rights

      A series of hands reaching for ballots.
      • Florida’s redistricting fight continues. The head of the state League of Women Voters talks about what’s at stake.

        Barbara Rodriguez · April 19
      • Women have been sounding the alarm ahead of Texas’ first-in-the-nation primary

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 28
      • LGBTQ+ people of color are at risk from rising voter restrictions as federal protections falter in the Senate, advocates say

        Orion Rummler · January 19

    View all collections

  • Explore by Topic

    • Abortion
    • Business & Economy
    • Caregiving
    • Coronavirus
    • Education
    • Election 2020
    • Elections 2022
    • Environment & Climate
    • Health
    • Immigration
    • Inside The 19th
    • Justice
    • LGBTQ+
    • Politics
    • Race
    • Sports
    • Technology

    View All Topics

Home
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Donate to get our member newsletter

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Two pregnant women wearing masks walk down the street.
(Photo by Mehdi Taamallah/NurPhoto via AP)

Coronavirus

Pregnant people haven’t been included in promising COVID vaccine trials

Vaccine trials have had promising results, but a lack of testing makes it unclear if they'll be safe for pregnant people.

Shefali Luthra

Health Reporter

Shefali Luthra portrait

Published

2020-11-17 10:52
10:52
November 17, 2020
am

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

We’re the only newsroom dedicated to writing about gender, politics and policy. Subscribe to our newsletter today.

Early results from two major COVID-19 vaccine trials have sparked hope that the worst of the pandemic may soon be over. But it’s still unclear if or when that relief would extend to pregnant people, who have been excluded from those vaccine trials. 

Pfizer and Moderna, which are developing two high-profile vaccine candidates, have posted initial data from their large late-stage trials that suggests their products could be close to 90 or 95 percent effective in reducing risk of COVID-19 infection. Moderna’s data also suggests its vaccine would reduce the risk of severe illness caused by the coronavirus. 

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Both companies have indicated they will seek a federal emergency-use authorization, in which the government makes the drug available before having approved it, based on the strength of early results. That means vaccines could be available to the general public by next spring. 

But since the vaccine trials have thus far excluded people who are pregnant or breastfeeding, it’s unclear when the immunizations would be safely available for them. 

The exclusion has sparked concern from health experts, especially since research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has made it clear that pregnancy significantly increases COVID-19’s mortality risk. Pregnant people are also more likely to develop complications and require intensive medical care, including requiring a ventilator.

A newsletter you can relate to

Storytelling that represents you, delivered to your inbox.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting…

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

“Pregnant women are now squarely in the higher risk population, which makes thinking about a vax for them — it was already a pressing concern, but it’s even more pressing,” said Anne Lyerly, obstetrician and bioethicist at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s department of social medicine.

Pfizer spokesperson Jerica Pitts said the company is working on a “potential pathway” to a pregnancy-related indication for the vaccine program, which would mean getting the vaccine approved for use during pregnancy. It is also currently doing early research — not yet conducting trials in humans — to see how the vaccine works in pregnancy, Pitts said.

Moderna has not specified its plans to research the vaccine in pregnant people. The company did not respond to The 19th’s requests for comment.

The federal Food & Drug Administration, which will determine whether either vaccine candidate gets an emergency authorization, could approve the vaccine for all healthy adults — which would then allow health authorities like the CDC to determine whether pregnant people should be eligible to get the immunization or if they will have to wait until one is specifically tested for them. The FDA could also approve a vaccine for healthy adults but specifically advise against giving it to pregnant people, at least temporarily.

Experts are still debating when vaccines should in general be tested on those who are pregnant. Historically, major vaccines have not been tested during pregnancy, because of concerns that both the pregnant person and fetus would be at risk for complications. But that thinking has shifted in recent years — particularly in light of the Ebola crisis, when, similarly to COVID-19, vaccines were not initially tested for pregnant people even though they were at severely heightened risk of mortality.  

Some researchers, following conventional wisdom, say later is better, when vaccines have been proven to be safe in pregnancy. But many others note that delaying when to include pregnant people in trials, as Moderna and Pfizer have done, will put them at risk. 

“We need data collected in a systematic way to guide pregnant women and their health care providers regarding whether they should get a COVID-19 vaccine,” said Sonja Rasmussen, a 20-year CDC veteran and professor of pediatrics and epidemiology at the University of Florida.

Excluding those who are pregnant, she added, means much of the vaccines’ risks and benefits are still a question mark. 

“Many questions need to be answered,” she said. “Is the vaccine effective during pregnancy? Is a different dose needed during pregnancy? Is the vaccine safe for the pregnant woman and her fetus? Will the vaccine provide some degree of protection to the newborn infant?”

The FDA typically recommends pregnant people be included in late-stage trials. In its COVID-19 recommendations, the FDA advised companies to at least consider including those who are pregnant in vaccine trials, and in July, National Institutes of Health Director Frances Collins said inclusion of pregnant people in vaccine trials was “a top priority.” 

Some Democratic lawmakers have also called on major vaccine companies to include pregnant people in their trials or otherwise ensure immunizations are available to them. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Lauren Underwood introduced legislation to this effect in August.

Women of childbearing age are also disproportionately represented amongst frontline worker groups, including health care professionals and teachers — the very people who experts say need to receive the vaccine first.

“A significant number of health workers are women. Within that there are always, at any given time, a substantial number who are pregnant,” said Ruth Faden, a bioethicist at Johns Hopkins University who focuses on immunizations for pregnant people. “What’s the right ethics stance towards a pregnant health worker?”

Without good data, it’s difficult to know what the implications are for giving pregnant people either vaccine. But the mechanism underlying both vaccines — a new messenger RNA technology that helps the body develop antibodies to fight the coronavirus — has not been shown to cause harm during pregnancy, Lyerly said. 

This gives her “reason for optimism” that even without being tested on pregnant people, the vaccine could be used to protect them, she said. 

“The heightened awareness of the needs to protect pregnant women is a relatively recent phenomenon,” she said. “A focus on the needs to protect them through vaccination — not just from the risks of an intervention like a vaccine — that’s an important shift.”

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Building stronger together.

A new model for nonprofit journalism: For our readers. For our team. For our community.

Become a member

Sign up for our newsletter

Up Next

A family sits on a beach

Health

A MacArthur ‘genius’ shares why he is using his award to support his wife’s work

In an interview with The 19th, Damien Fair and Rahel Nardos discuss their plans for the grant.

Read the Story

The 19th
The 19th is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our stories are free to republish in accordance with these guidelines.

  • Donate
  • Subscribe to the Newsletter
  • Attend an Event
  • Jobs
  • Fellowships
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Community Guidelines
  • Membership
  • Membership FAQ
  • Major Gifts
  • Sponsorship
  • Privacy
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram