Less than a quarter of pregnant women in the UK have had a Covid vaccine, official data today.
A report by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) showed just 10,486 (22 per cent) of women who gave birth in August had been given a first dose.
Officials issued a desperate plea for pregnant women to come forward, citing stats showing that 98 per cent of expectant mothers in ICU are unjabbed.
Real-world data from the rollout of vaccines in Britain support other studies around the world that the vaccines are safe to give at any stage of pregnancy, the UKHSA said.
The UKHSA report found that there were not substantial differences in rates of stillbirths, rates of births of babies with low birthweight and the proportion of premature births between vaccinated women and unvaccinated women.
Officials said the data were especially reassuring given that the first pregnant women to be offered the vaccine were those with underlying health conditions who would be expected to be at a higher risk of complications.
It comes after reports of anti-vaxxers turning up at school gates telling teenage girls they would become infertile if they get jabbed.
Professor Chris Whitty urged mothers-to-be get jabbed as he shared ‘stark’ figures that just 33 vaccinated pregnant women were admitted to hospital with Covid between February and September. For comparison, 98 per cent of hospital admissions (1,681) were among unjabbed mothers-to-be. And just three infected pregnant women admitted to intensive care were vaccinated, compared to 232 infected unvaccinated women, he said
The new data for England published by the UKHSA covers the eight-month period between January and August this year.
It looked at 355,299 women who gave birth, of whom 24,759 had received at least one dose of Covid vaccine.
The data found no woman who was fully vaccinated and pregnant was admitted to intensive care with Covid between February and the end of September.
Dr Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisation at UKHSA said: ‘Every pregnant woman who has not yet been vaccinated should feel confident to go and get the jab, and that this will help to prevent the serious consequences of catching Covid in pregnancy.’
The UKHSA data found that vaccinated women had a stillbirth rate of 3.35 per 1,000, slightly lower than the rate of 3.60 per 1,000 in unvaccinated women.
The proportion of women giving birth prematurely was 6.51 per cent for vaccinated people, slightly higher than 5.99 per cent for unvaccinated women.
Professor Lucy Chappell, DHSC’s Chief Scientific Adviser and Honorary Consultant Obstetrician, said: ‘This pandemic has created a lot of fear and uncertainty for those who are thinking about pregnancy or expecting a baby, with Covid being very dangerous for pregnant women in particular.
‘It is therefore really important that they get their Covid vaccine — which has now protected hundreds of thousands of pregnant women around the world.
‘Today’s data are hugely reassuring and further shows the vaccines continue to be the best way pregnant women can keep themselves and their babies safe from this virus.’
The government is urging pregnant women who have not yet been vaccinated to get their shots.
Professor Chris Whitty last week urged mothers-to-be get jabbed as he shared ‘stark’ figures that showed just three infected pregnant women admitted to intensive care were vaccinated, compared to 232 infected unvaccinated women between February and September.
He told a Downing Street press conference that hospitalisations among unvaccinated pregnant women are ‘preventable’ and it is ‘clear the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks in every area’.
Professor Whitty said: ‘I would… like to pull out in particular the issue of women who are pregnant or intending to get pregnant.
‘And I would just like to give you some fairly stark facts about this because this is a major concern.
‘Based on academic data from February 1 to September 30… 1,714 pregnant women were admitted to hospital with Covid.
‘Of those, 1,681, which is to say 98 per cent, had not been vaccinated.
‘And if you go to those who are very severely ill in intensive care, of 235 women admitted to ICU, 232 of them – over 98 per cent – had not been vaccinated.
‘These are preventable admissions to ICU and there have been deaths.’
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk