Pfizer and Moderna are the two companies authorized by The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to vaccinate the American people against the COVID-19. Pregnant women were excluded from getting vaccine shots in America due to various reasons.
It was a personal choice for the pregnant women to get vaccinated or not as the risks involved were not assessed. Pfizer and BioNTech have finally announced they have manufactured vaccines to cater to pregnant women solely. Pfizer is putting up the vaccine for trial which will help more in deriving conclusive data regarding the effectiveness of the vaccine in pregnant women.
The trial will be conducted on 4000 pregnant women. During the trial period, half of them will receive the actual vaccine while the other half will get a placebo. The participating women will receive 2 doses each. The second dose will be administered after 21 days following the first dose.
The participants will be followed up for approx. 7 to 10 months to assess the after-effects of the vaccine shots. The participant as well as the delivered baby will be kept under observation. The infant will be monitored for up to 6 months to ensure that the antibodies are transferred to him from the vaccinated mother.
For the initial trial, healthy pregnant women, aged 18 or above will be preferred. Participants from the U.S, Canada, United Kingdom, South Africa, Chile, Spain, Brazil, Mozambique, and Argentina can get themselves enrolled in the trial.
The senior vice president of vaccine clinical research and development of Pfizer, Dr. William Gruber announced the trials. He further stated that pregnant women are more at risk of developing severe COVID-19 complications. If this is not taken care of now, this may result in an increase in the fatality rate of pregnant women. The vaccine is deemed to be safe and effective for pregnant women.
