COVID vaccinations during pregnancy protects newborns from hospitalization --data

Getting the COVID vaccine during pregnancy protects newborns from hospitalization Babies under six months can't be vaccinated directly against COVID. A new study found that most infants hospitalized for COVID had mothers who didn’t get the vaccine while they were pregnant. KFF Health News

Nearly 90% of babies who had to be hospitalized for COVID-19 had mothers who didn’t get the vaccine during pregnancy, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Infants can’t get vaccinated against COVID until they are at least six months old. That leaves a “huge window” when infants are most vulnerable, said Dr. Neil Silverman, director of the Infectious Disease in Pregnancy program at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

The only effective protection for babies during those six months comes from vaccinating pregnant women, so they pass the antibodies on to their newborns. Vaccination during pregnancy also protects pregnant people from contracting severe disease.

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