COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy

Marta C Nunes; Shabir A Madhi

doi:10.1016/j.molmed.2022.04.012

COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy

Trends Mol Med. 2022 Aug;28(8):662-680. doi: 10.1016/j.molmed.2022.04.012. Epub 2022 May 3.

Authors

Marta C Nunes¹, Shabir A Madhi²

Affiliations

¹ South African Medical Research Council, Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Department of Science and Technology/National Research Foundation South African Research Chair Initiative in Vaccine Preventable Diseases, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
² South African Medical Research Council, Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Department of Science and Technology/National Research Foundation South African Research Chair Initiative in Vaccine Preventable Diseases, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; African Leadership in Vaccinology Expertise, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Electronic address: Shabir.Madhi@wits.ac.za.

Abstract

COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has been associated with severe illness in pregnant women. Furthermore, COVID-19 during pregnancy is associated with adverse fetal outcomes including preterm labor. Pregnant women were largely excluded from initial clinical trials investigating the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines; however, they have since been included as part of the routine roll-out of these vaccines. This narrative review synthesizes the evidence on the safety, immunogenicity, and effectiveness predominantly of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines which have been most widely used in pregnant women.

Keywords: antibodies; immunogenicity; safety; transplacental transfer.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19 Vaccines* / adverse effects
COVID-19 Vaccines* / immunology
COVID-19* / prevention & control
Female
Humans
Immunogenicity, Vaccine
Infant, Newborn
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Complications, Infectious* / prevention & control
SARS-CoV-2

Substances

COVID-19 Vaccines