Covid: Pregnant women targeted with false vaccine claims

Covid vaccination advice in pregnancy has not changed, contrary to false social media posts, UK health agencies have clarified.

Inaccurate messages shared by thousands claimed that pregnant or breastfeeding women were now recommended not to take the vaccine.

In fact, the NHS says the vaccine is both safe and strongly recommended for this group.

The misleading claim came from a now out-of-date document from 2020. The document went viral after a Twitter user - whose account has since been suspended - shared a post stating incorrectly that the UK government had, "quietly remove[d] approval for use of Covid vax in pregnant and breastfeeding women".

She linked to a report from December 2020 which said, "reassurance of safe use of the vaccine in pregnant women cannot be provided at the present time", because of an absence of data and that, "women who are breastfeeding should also not be vaccinated".

This was true at the time, but since then data has been gathered finding no link between the vaccine and problems in pregnancy or birth. In fact, the Covid vaccine seems to reduce the risk of still-birth and pre-term delivery.

And unvaccinated pregnant women are more likely to need hospital treatment if they catch Covid, especially in the third trimester.

This evidence led to the recommendation being changed - so the statement found in this report no longer stands.

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Source: BBC News, 1 September 2022