Pregnant women struggling to get Covid jab says MP
Pregnant women are struggling to get the coronavirus vaccine because clinics are unable to guarantee they will have the right type of jab available, Labour MP Stella Creasy has said.
The Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna jabs are preferable for pregnant women because there is more safety data available.
But the online booking system in England does not allow them to specify which vaccine they require.
Pregnant women are advised to speak to their GP instead of booking online. But Ms Creasy, 44, said GPs do not always know when local vaccination centres will have specific types of the jab available.
The MP for Walthamstow, who is currently pregnant with her second child, said she had received five invitations to be vaccinated but she could not take them up because there is no system to specify she needs the Pfizer or Moderna jab.
"I don't think it's been made enough of a priority because there's a presumption it will become more of a priority as they move through the age groups, which is a misreading of the data about pregnancy," she told the BBC.
Source: BBC News, 7 May 2021