COVID-19: 'Is it safe for pregnant women to get vaccinated'? Dr Archana Bajaj answers

As India continues to grapple with the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Obstetrician-Gynecologist Dr Archana Bajaj and Ex-President of Obstetrician-Gynecological Society of India & Consultant in Leelavati Hospital, Mumbai spoke to Republic TV. When asked whether it is safe for pregnant women to get vaccinated or not, Dr Archana Bajaj said "yes". 

Obstetrician-Gynaecologist on whether women should plan pregnancy or not

Dr Archana Bajaj said, "If we were to look at our population, 5 per cent of the population at any given time comprises of pregnant women. These are women, who are immune-compromised as they are pregnant. Other than that, there is a very fine line between some normal symptoms of pregnancy and early symptoms of COVID."

While stating that there is a high possibility of COVID-19 symptoms getting lost in pregnant women as females in this state of life face similar symptoms, the health expert said that pregnant women have symptoms, which are sometimes be very similar to what might or might not be symptoms of COVID. A lot of pregnant women may have respiratory compromise, may have breathing difficulty, a little bit of difficulty in walking and getting breathless, bone pain, fatigue, she added. 

Informing that some of the country's health and frontline workers are pregnant women, the doctor said that these are women with comorbidities, diabetes, hypertension, etc, Dr Archana Bajaj said that if one looks at the larger picture, we are a huge population, who are vulnerable. 

She said, "Once you are a big population and you are vulnerable, you are a set of people, who need to e treated with extreme caution and for whom, any step that can be taken to prevent the disease has to be a very proactive step. Risks Vs benefits have to be weighed."

Remarking that various detailed studies have been conducted on pregnant women vaccination in America, the doctor said "In America, pregnant women were administered with Pfizer and Moderna shots and no serious medical concern was reported." She further said that if pregnant women should consider taking a vaccine, then they should first consult the same with their doctor. 

Dr Archana Bajaj said, "I am not saying that walk into the vaccine program with shut eyes. It has to be a conscious and discussed step. In the first phase, if someone was to ask me, I would have probably turned around and said that we shall see if the vaccine is even needed for them. But I am seeing in this wave is petrifying me as a health care provider. Women are getting affected in proportion, we would really not want them to."

COVID-19 situation in India

As the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, India so far has recorded over 2,52,28,996 positive cases, out of which, 2,15,96,512 have successfully recovered and 2,78,719 have died. As per the latest reports from MoHFW, in the past 24 hours, 2,63,533 new cases, 4,22,436 fresh recoveries and 4,329 deaths have been reported. Currently, the total number of active cases in the country is 33,53,765. 

(Image: PTI, Republicworld.com)