The Ministry of Health was not surprised by the lack of an initial rush of pregnant women coming forward to be vaccinated for COVID-19 when it extended the option to them late last month.
Appearing on Aakash Vani 106.5 FM’s Morning Panchayat show with host Satesh Mahabir yesterday morning, the Ministry’s Director of Women’s Health Dr Adesh Sirjusingh said that he was not immediately concerned that only approximately 350 pregnant women have been vaccinated since vaccinations were extended to them on August 25.
Dr Sirjusingh suggested that the apparently low rate was possibly due to the fact that pregnant women, who are past the first trimester of their pregnancy (12 weeks), are required to consult with their primary health care professional before being eligible to take a vaccine. He suggested that the figures are likely to improve after four weeks.
“So I would look at the numbers after a month to get a better gauge,” Dr Sirjusingh said.
He also claimed that the general uptake of vaccines by pregnant women in foreign countries with high vaccination rates was 40 per cent.
“It sounds like a low number. We don’t expect a high up-tick in comparison to the general population,” Dr Sirjusingh said.
Dr Sirjusingh explained that while data was limited at the start of the pandemic, recent studies indicate that there is a high frequency of pre-term and stillborn births with pregnant women, who contract COVID-19 especially during the second half of their pregnancy.
There were also incidents of infected pregnant women suffering from heart disease and high blood pressure.
Dr Sirjusingh noted that COVID-19 had not been shown to seriously affect babies if their mothers contracted the virus when pregnant.
“Luckily, COVID has not been found to affect the babies in terms of causing anything like fetal anomalies as sometimes happens with some viruses. There is a small risk of mother-to-child transmission,” he said.
“That is extremely small at this time but we have not seen any direct harm to the baby except the stillbirths and pre-term labour,” he added.
Dr Sirjusingh stated that of the 500 pregnant women, who contracted the virus since the start of the pandemic, the majority would have been exposed this year.
Three per cent of those infected required hospitalisation, with only one, who was infected in late pregnancy, dying after giving birth.
Dr Sirjusingh was careful to note that pregnant women were not more susceptible to contracting the virus.
“COVID-19 does not seek out pregnant women...You are just at risk as the general population,” he said.
He sought to dispel misinformation about the vaccine’s effect on pregnant women as he noted that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was only selected after it was granted World Health Organisation approval for pregnant women.
He stated that after the vaccine is administered it is quickly eliminated from the body.
“What is left behind is the system for manufacturing antibodies. The vaccine at no point in time gets to the baby,” he said.
He noted that the same applied to breastfeeding mothers.
“The only thing that goes to the baby is the antibodies that are produced. So we can actually protect the mother and baby in a sense,” he said.
While Dr Sirjusingh admitted that minor side effects such as pain at the vaccination site and headaches are normal as in the general population and pericarditis and myocarditis associated with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was only seen in young males and not with pregnant women.
Dr Sirjusingh also denied that vaccinations affects fertility but admitted that it may temporarily affect menstruation like other stressful events.
“I can say there is absolutely no truth in vaccines affecting your ovaries or reproductive system,” Dr Sirjusingh said.
He noted that the ministry sought to make the vaccination process quick and easy for pregnant women as once they have a recommendation from their doctor they would be fast-tracked at specific vaccination sites administering the Pfizer vaccine.
