Importance of Covid Immunization, Even During Pregnancy
Autumn is the time to make sure your immunizations are up to date for COVID-19 (and other respiratory illnesses).
Nearly 90% of babies who had to be hospitalized with COVID-19 had mothers who didn't get the vaccine while they were pregnant, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Babies too young to be vaccinated had the highest COVID hospitalization rate of any age group except people over 75. Vaccine misinformation and skepticism are likely barriers to protecting vulnerable infants.
CDC recommendations and high-risk groups have been updated for 2024.
“Babies can't get the COVID vaccination until they are at least 6 months old…. Vaccinating pregnant women so they pass the antibodies on to their newborns is an effective way of protecting babies during that time. Vaccination during pregnancy also protects pregnant people from severe disease.” The case for vaccinating pregnant women is presented in this Medscape article Why Getting a COVID Shot During Pregnancy is Important.
The CDC recommends the vaccine for everyone over 6 months of age, with particular emphasis on certain high-risk groups.
Healthcare workers are also at high risk due to workplace exposure. In addition, unimmunized healthcare workers can pass on the virus to vulnerable patients.
Check with your healthcare provider or local pharmacy for vaccine availability in your area.
This article falls under Clinical/Patient Safety in the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) risk domains.
Risks associated with the delivery of care to patients, residents and other health care customers. Clinical risks include: failure to follow evidence based practice, medication errors, hospital acquired conditions (HAC), serious safety events (SSE), health care equity, opportunities to improve safety within the care environments, and others.