COVID shots and pregnancy: The high cost of confusion

"Catch up quick: Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's vaccine advisory panel voted that people - including those who are pregnant - should make their own individual decision about whether to get a shot in consultation with their health care provider, instead of broadly recommending the shot. That recommendation must ultimately be approved by the CDC. Back in May, Kennedy announced that the CDC no longer recommended the COVID vaccine for healthy pregnant women."

"The CDC website had previously said, citing several studies, that the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines "reduce the risk of severe illness and other health effects from COVID-19," and "might help prevent stillbirths and preterm delivery." Zoom out: Despite Kennedy's insistence that " everybody" can get a booster, without the CDC's approval, insurance coverage and accessibility of the vaccine for many pregnant women could be in jeopardy."

"Zoom in: To ensure that her patients who want the booster can get it, Gillispie-Bell, who practices in Louisiana, tells Axios she's had to recommend they go to specific pharmacies that will administer it. "That's not how public health is supposed to work," she says. "Everybody should have access without any type of extra privileges." She's also had to write a prescription for the COVID vaccine to a patient who's not pregnant."

A vaccine advisory panel voted that people, including pregnant individuals, should make individual decisions about COVID boosters in consultation with health-care providers rather than issuing a broad recommendation. That panel recommendation requires CDC approval to affect official guidance, insurance coverage, and widespread access. Earlier CDC guidance cited studies showing mRNA COVID-19 vaccines reduce severe illness and may help prevent stillbirths and preterm delivery, but guidance changed in May to not recommend the vaccine for healthy pregnant women. Practical barriers include needing specific pharmacies, prescriptions, and persistent safety concerns and misinformation that increase hesitancy among pregnant patients.

Read at Axios