Moderna will soon launch clinical trials to determine whether its Covid-19 vaccine is safe for pregnant women despite thousands of pregnant women having received their shots.
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company announced it would begin the trials on July 22, 2021 and would study if their vaccine leads to miscarriages or stillbirths in pregnant women or cause birth defects in newborns.
Moderna now plans to enroll 1,000 women aged 18 and older who are currently pregnant and who have received the jab 28 days before their last menstrual period leading to pregnancy.
The company says over 9,000 women in the US have received Moderna jabs while being pregnant and a total of 130,000 pregnant women have received at least one shot of a Covid-19 vaccine in America.
The company would also monitor infants from the women who took the jab for a year to find potential congenital malfunctions, birth defects, or traits like low birth rates on any other diseases at a young age.
While pregnant women are eligible for COVID-19 vaccines in the US and around the world, the CDC has not recommended for or against in taking the jab. The Moderna shots are the second most common vaccine after Pzifer used in the United States and has been distributed 135 million times.
Also, previous reports stated that a few pregnant women suffered from negative outcomes of Covid-19 vaccine and the Moderna research would confirm if it is safe for to-be-mums to take the jab during pregnancy.
Earlier this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) had first recommended pregnant woman not to take the vaccine but later walked back on the statement a week later and advised everyone to take the jab, irrespective of the condition.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a statement stating pregnant women can protect themselves against Covid-19 by getting vaccinated but should take the decision on an individual basis after consultation with their doctor.
Research previously released show women who contracted Covid-19 while being pregnant were more likely to require a premature birth or a C-section delivery. Their condition as per the study shows pregnant women were at risk of cancer and also developed lower antibody levels from the vaccine as compared to others.
