Members of the media may directly contact the following expert:
Dr. Deshayne Fell (English only)
Associate Professor, School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, and Scientist, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute.
[email protected]
“Since the H1N1 pandemic, we have learned a lot about vaccination during pregnancy. Canada is among many countries to routinely recommend influenza and pertussis vaccination during pregnancy. There are also other vaccines in development for use in pregnancy to prevent other types of serious infections in newborns. These other examples have been found to be very safe, and highly effective at preventing infection in both pregnant women themselves as well as their newborns.
Since we now know that pregnant women seem to have a relatively higher risk of serious COVID-19 illness compared with non-pregnant women of similar age, and especially since so many women of reproductive age are health care and other front line workers, I think it’s likely a matter of time before some COVID-19 vaccines are also recommended during pregnancy. The clinical trials have not included pregnant women, however, the vaccine manufacturers either are conducting or will soon be conducting other pre-clinical and clinical studies that will provide important information about pregnancy.”