Pregnant and Lactating Individuals Tolerate COVID Vaccine Boosters

As new COVID boosters are approved and distributed, understanding how they affect pregnant and lactating individuals will impact public health policies, educational efforts, and provider distribution. A cohort study published in JAMA Network Open determined that pregnant and lactating people tolerated the COVID booster well.

Investigators in this prospective online cohort study looked at 17,014 eligible participants. Approximately 11.8% of participants were pregnant when receiving the booster or the third COVID vaccine. The percentage of lactating individuals was 60.4%, while the final 27.8% of participants were neither pregnant nor lactating but were planning a pregnancy.

Of the pregnant individuals receiving the booster or the third dose, the most significant proportion, 37.1%, were in the third trimester. The first- and second-trimester ratio was 26.4% and 36.5%, respectively.

Of all participants, 82.8% experienced local reactions such as injection site pain or swelling. A significantly smaller proportion, 67.9%, experienced systemic reactions such as fever and fatigue.

Researchers in the publication state, “compared with individuals who were lactating and those who were neither pregnant nor lactating, pregnant individuals reported similar rates of local reactions but reported fewer systemic symptoms after vaccination.”

Understanding that the COVID boosters have not had a significant negative impact on pregnant and lactating individuals may encourage a larger population to receive fall COVID boosters.

Additionally, “the potential to transfer antibodies to the fetus and reduce risk for COVID-19 infection were commonly cited reasons for receiving a COVID-19 booster by pregnant participants,” stated researchers in the study.

Other publications have indicated that contracting COVID during pregnancy may have many effects on the fetus, including but not limited to neurodevelopmental issues. Due to the nature of this virus, clinicians can not be sure of the long-term impact on children whose birthing parents had COVID while in utero.

Researchers in the study state, “Data on COVID-19 vaccine boosters are particularly important as vaccine uptake during pregnancy is lagging, and strategies to reduce vaccine hesitancy, increase vaccine acceptance, and help guide discussions between pregnant and lactating persons and maternal care professionals are needed.”

Clinicians are urged to discuss the results of this study and other similar publications that emphasize the safety of boosters. Pregnant and lactating individuals should discuss vaccine hesitancy with a licensed healthcare provider.