Vaccination in Pregnancy Prevents COVID-19 Hospitalization in Infants

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 16, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Maternal completion of a two-dose primary mRNA COVID-19 vaccination series during pregnancy is 61 percent effective for preventing COVID-19 hospitalization in infants aged younger than 6 months, according to research published in the Feb. 15 early-release issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Natasha B. Halasa, M.D., from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, and colleagues examined the effectiveness of maternal completion of a two-dose primary mRNA COVID-19 vaccination series during pregnancy against COVID-19 hospitalization in infants in a test-negative, case-control study conducted at 20 pediatric hospitals in 17 states during July 1, 2021, to Jan. 17, 2022. Data were included for 379 hospitalized infants aged younger than 6 months: 176 with COVID-19 and 203 without COVID-19 (median age, 2 months).

The researchers found that the effectiveness of maternal vaccination during pregnancy was 61 percent against COVID-19 hospitalization in infants aged younger than 6 months. The effectiveness of a completed two-dose COVID-19 vaccination series was 32 percent early in pregnancy (first 20 weeks), although the confidence intervals were wide, and it was 80 percent later in pregnancy (21 weeks through 14 days before delivery).

"Completion of a two-dose primary mRNA COVID-19 vaccination series during pregnancy was associated with reduced risk for COVID-19-associated hospitalization among infants aged <6 months, and protection was higher among infants whose mothers were vaccinated later in pregnancy," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the biopharmaceutical industry; one author disclosed payment from law firms for expert testimony.

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