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Pregnant women remain concerned about getting COVID-19 vaccine
FOX 26's Rashi Vats has more as pregnant women remain worried about whether or not they should get the COVID-19 vaccine.
HOUSTON - Many pregnant woman or those trying to conceive do not know what to do when it comes to getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
Elizabeth Robles is 7 months pregnant with her second child.
Working since June at a daycare licensing facility, she has had the opportunity to be on a waitlist for the vaccine.
"I am unsure. I have friends that are pregnant that did take the vaccine, but I don’t know if I am willing to take that risk especially when there’s not enough research and data showing it is safe for me and my baby," said Robles.
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Health agency guidelines seem to keep changing. Just recently, the World Health Organization went back on their recommendation. Now saying it is ok for pregnant women to get the shot. Research and studies are scarce, which makes it frustrating for Obstetrician Gynecologists like Dr. Rashmi Kudesia when trying to guide her patients.
"I think that there’s so much anxiety that comes along with being pregnant and in a global pandemic and now you have this vaccination. It is very anxiety provoking. We know that level of stress is not good for pregnant moms or for anyone to be honest, so I wish I could just take that burden away and say it is definitely safe and here are the studies to show it," said Dr. Kudesia.
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Dr. Peter Hotez is a vaccine expert and Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. He spoke on Facebook Live about this issue.
"Pregnant women don’t do well with this virus, they have very high rates of hospitalization and ICU admissions and potentially losing the baby as well," said Dr. Hotez. "I’m of the opinion of getting vaccinated, even though there’s not a formal recommendation about it, the FDA has not indicated that pregnancy is a contraindication."
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According to the Nation’s leading infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, about 10,000 women have been vaccinated in the U.S. since the FDA approved the two vaccines and there have been no red flags
Pfizer says they will test their vaccine in pregnant women over the next few months and Moderna will be setting up a registry to observe side effects women have after getting their vaccine.