Are You Pregnant and Considering Getting the COVID-19 Vaccine? FIRST #ScreenB4Vaccine

Are you a pregnant woman and worried about catching COVID-19 disease during this pandemic?

Your worry is legitimate — the risk is NOT low. And the virus can harm you.

Are you considering getting the COVID-19 vaccine to protect yourself and your baby from the infection?

You should consider it carefully, and you should act to make sure you get this vaccine, as safely and as quickly as possible.

But how can you make sure you are maximally safe and protected from any adverse effect from this new vaccine?

That is a nuanced question, but one that has a reasonable answer.

Let me explain.

Many pregnant women have some legitimate concerns about both the getting COVID-19 infection and about getting vaccinated against it.

On the one hand, it’s very likely that most pregnant women, like others, will benefit from protective vaccine immunity.

On the other hand, the reality is that the clinical trials that led to the emergency authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine really did not include pregnant women.

So, though it’s a good bet that the vaccine will be very effective in pregnant women, as it is in others, we simply don’t know whether it is reasonably safe or not.

That is, we don’t have any real studies to assess safety during pregnancy.

So, what we’re left with is making clear safety assessments and using what we know about in the science of immunology to prognosticate how to most safely vaccinate during pregnancy.

One thing is certain, this vaccine’s constituent parts are NOT magically different from any other vaccine. The mumbo-jumbo going around about mRNA being “gene therapy” or some sort of an “experimental mind control device” is simply silly.

BUT, there is one major difference between the COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines — and that is that we are deploying in the very midst of a pandemic literally into millions of persons recently infected.

As an immunologist and physician, it is my opinion that the most serious risk of harm from the vaccine may be to pregnant women with recent or existing COVID-19 infection. And despite the fact that at the moment FDA, CDC and the vaccine manufacturers deny that this may be concern, the fact is that they have no data to support that assertion.

I’ve formally expressed this concern about indiscriminate vaccination of ANY recently infected persons to FDA and to the vaccine manufacturers — anet Woodcock and Peter Marks have either acknowledged receipt of my concern or denied its validity, respectively. Both orientations from FDA leaders are unreasonable.

You can read about my concerns for recently infected persons undergoing indiscriminate vaccination HERE.

So far, no one in government or corporate leadership has substantively addressed this serious concern — other than to deny that there is a legitimate safety concern. The establishment is simply failing to admit that none of the clinical trials assessed this likely possibility with sufficient care.

So, it is up to individual physicians and citizens to do all that is possible to undergo vaccination as quickly — BUT as safely as is possible.

I’ve previously written about what I am reasonably certain is the biggest risk of the COVID-19 vaccine during this pandemic, and how to mitigate against it. You may read about #ScreenB4Vaccine HERE.

So, if you are a pregnant women concerned about contracting COVID-19, you are right to be.

And if you are considering getting vaccinated, you are also correct — you should get the vaccine as efficiently and safely as possible.

But, before you get the vaccine, please undergo screening for both antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 AND get a PCR or rapid antigen screen to make sure you are not an asymptomatic carrier.

If both these tests come back negative, proceed with getting vaccinated as soon as possible — and be sure to socially distance and mask up well, for the first three weeks after you get the shot. Because during this time, your immunity is still being generated.

If you are positive for IgG antibody this means you are very likely to have been infected previously and are immune — in this case, in consultation with your physicians consider delaying your vaccination until after you deliver your baby.

If you are positive on a PCR or rapid antigen test, you are highly likely to be infected. In this case you should delay vaccination, take care to isolated and monitor your symptoms for any evidence of progression. Most infected persons will develop IgG antibodies, you can screen for these within a few weeks and again, consider delaying your vaccination until after delivery.

It is my opinion, that #ScreenB4Vaccine may be even more important as a vaccine safety device for pregnant women considering COVID-19 vaccination than in the general population.

I would be happy to communicate with you further about this issue, if you wish.

Feel free to write me at noorchashm@gmail.com.

All best wishes for a safe pregnancy and healthy delivery of your child,

Hooman Noorchashm MD, PhD