COVID-19 Vaccines and Pregnancy

ACOG Advocacy and Outreach

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, ACOG has been the country’s leading medical voice about the importance of understanding how a COVID-19 vaccine would affect pregnant patients, and has actively opposed the exclusion of pregnant and lactating patients from vaccination trials and recommendations.

Pregnant individuals are more likely to have certain manifestations of severe illness associated with COVID-19 infection such as ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, and death. Further, upwards of half of pregnant individuals also fall into another high-priority category, including frontline workers and those with underlying conditions. ACOG continues to urge that for pregnant individuals, the decision to vaccinate must be left to each patient in consult with their trusted clinician.

ACOG and its subject matter experts – the ACOG COVID-19 OB Expert Work Group; the Immunization, Infectious Disease, and Public Health Preparedness Expert Work Group; and the ACOG Fellows who are our liaisons to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the ACIP COVID-19 Work Group, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC), and the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) – have disseminated and emphasized in written materials, official comment letters, committee deliberations, and virtual presentations this important message. Written materials can be found below.

ACOG will release additional information including clinical guidance for its members following the release of COVID-19 vaccination recommendations from the FDA and ACIP.

Additional Resources

• "Pregnant and lactating women should not be excluded from Covid-19 drug, vaccine trials", an op-ed published in STAT News by Laura Riley, MD, and Brenna Hughes, MD, MSc. Both are members of the ACOG Covid-19 Expert Work Group and the Immunization, Infectious Disease, and Public Health Preparedness Expert Work Group.