Pregnant women can consider a dose of COVID-19 vaccine in each pregnancy
All pregnant women can consider a dose of COVID-19 vaccine from 20 weeks gestation in each pregnancy to protect their infant.38 It is safe to receive the vaccine dose at any time during pregnancy.
See Table. Vaccines that are not routinely recommended in pregnancy: non-live viral vaccines in Vaccination for women who are planning pregnancy, pregnant or breastfeeding.
A vaccine dose administered during pregnancy may reduce the risk of severe COVID-19 and related complications in pregnant women.39 Maternal vaccination may also provide passive protection against COVID-19 hospitalisation in young infants through transplacental passage of antibodies.38,40-42
Evidence suggests the risks of severe maternal and pregnancy outcomes from Omicron infection are substantially lower than those associated with previous variants.43,44 Hospitalisation rates among infants aged <6 months in some countries during the Omicron period were higher than any other paediatric age groups however overall infant disease severity remained low.2,3 Higher hospitalisation rates may be due to testing effects, low threshold for hospitalisation (fever being most common presenting symptom)45 or presence of viral coinfection.