By the editorial staff of Allodocteurs.fr

Written on
12/25/2020, Updated

12/24/2020 at 4:13 PM

An anti-covid vaccine for everyone, even pregnant women? While vaccination against the coronavirus has already started in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada and will begin on December 27 in member countries of the European Union, the issue of access for pregnant women to vaccine has not been resolved.
And for good reason: clinical trials have not yet included pregnant and lactating women. To date, the data available on the efficacy and safety of the vaccine in these women are therefore insufficient for the health authorities to be able to issue a definitive recommendation.

To read also: Pregnancy and covid: what are the risks?

“No” in the United Kingdom, “yes” in the United States…

This explains why for the moment, each country has issued its own temporary recommendations. Thus, in the United Kingdom, the authorities have chosen the option of caution and do not include pregnant women in the list of people to be vaccinated as a priority against the coronavirus. On its website, the British health agency Public Health England explains that although the current data “do not raise any concerns about safety during pregnancy“, she “would like to see more non-clinical data“before finalizing her advice for pregnancy.

This is not the case in the United States, where the authorities have decided to let pregnant and breastfeeding women choose for themselves whether or not they want to be vaccinated.

No priority in France

And in France ? In its recommendations on the prioritization of target audiences dated December 18, the High Authority of Health (HAS) indicated that it had “not included pregnant women in the populations to be vaccinated as a priority (…) due to the absence of data on this population – excluded from clinical trials“.

HAS also specifies that it “re-examine the advisability of vaccinating pregnant women if new scientific data allow it to be considered“.

The situation could therefore soon change, because as their immune system is weakened, pregnant women represent a population vulnerable to infections. It is for this reason that the health authorities recommend every year to pregnant women to be vaccinated against the flu.