Prenatal maternal COVID-19 vaccination and pregnancy outcomes

Prenatal maternal physiological changes may cause severe COVID-19 among pregnant women. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (BNT162b2 mRNA) has been shown to be highly effective and it is recommended for individuals aged ≥16 years, including pregnant women, although the vaccine has not been tested on the latter.

To study the association between prenatal Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination, pregnancy course and outcomes.

A retrospective cohort study was performed, including all women who delivered between January and June 2021 at Soroka University Medical Center, the largest birth center in Israel. Excluded were women diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past, multiple gestations or unknown vaccination status. Pregnancy, delivery and newborn complications were compared between women who received 1 or 2-dose vaccines during pregnancy and unvaccinated women. Multivariable models were used to adjust for background characteristics.

A total of 4,399 women participated in this study, 913 (20.8%) of which were vaccinated during pregnancy. All vaccinations occurred during second or third trimesters. As compared to the unvaccinated women, vaccinated women were older, more likely to conceive following fertility treatments, to have sufficient prenatal care, and of higher socioeconomic position. In both crude and multivariable analyses, no differences were found between the groups in pregnancy, delivery and newborn complications, including gestational age at delivery, incidence of small for gestational age and newborn respiratory complications.

Prenatal maternal COVID-19 vaccine has no adverse effects on pregnancy course and outcomes. These findings may help pregnant women and health care providers to make informed decision regarding vaccination.