COVID-19 Vaccination in Pregnant Women: A Review Study

Abstract

Background: After launching coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination programs, healthcare workers and the general population were worried about the efficacy and safety of vaccines in mothers and fetuses due to insufficient data. During the phases of clinical trial and mass vaccinations, many unplanned pregnancies occurred in vaccinated women, which helped to investigate protection rates of vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and their side effects. Objective: This review study had two main objectives, including finding original articles about vaccinated pregnant women and collecting suggestions/recommendations in published documents, including the effectiveness, benefits, side effects, and instructions for vaccination of pregnant women. Materials and Methods: The web-based literature was extensively searched to retrieve the related documents. Due to the emerging nature of evidence, rapid onset of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, and recent vaccination programs, no limitation was applied regarding inclusion criteria and the study type. Results: Sixteen documents were selected for full text reading. Due to the significant benefits of vaccines (mostly mRNA types), such as the reduced risk of disease severity, premature labor, and virus transmission, vaccination of pregnant women has been recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization as well as several other organizations. Conclusion: the consequences of SARS-CoV-2 disease during pregnancy seem to outweigh the known side effects of the vaccination.