New data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that nearly 90% of infants who had to be hospitalized with COVID-19 had mothers who were not vaccinated during pregnancy. It became. The findings are published in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Infants too young to be vaccinated had the highest coronavirus hospitalization rate of any age group except those over 75.
The study examined infant health data from October 2022 to April 2024 in 12 states and highlights the critical importance of vaccinating pregnant people. It’s also consistent with what doctors have been reporting anecdotally for more than three years: people remain skeptical of coronavirus vaccines due to persistent misinformation.
Among the 1,470 infants who became ill enough to be hospitalized with COVID-19, severe outcomes occurred “frequently”, the report said. Excluding newborns hospitalized at birth, about one in five infants hospitalized with coronavirus required intensive care, and nearly one in 20 required a ventilator.
“These babies are not necessarily babies with high-risk illnesses; these are normal, full-term, healthy babies who happen to be infected with COVID-19 and end up on ventilators in the hospital. “It’s very difficult to get pregnant,” said Neil Silverman, professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology and director of the Infectious Diseases in Pregnancy Program. David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Babies cannot receive the coronavirus vaccine until they are at least 6 months old. That leaves a “large window” during the time when infants are most vulnerable, Silberman said. Vaccinating pregnant women and passing on antibodies to their newborns is an effective way to protect the baby during this time. Vaccination during pregnancy protects pregnant people from serious diseases.
But persistent misinformation about the vaccine online has sparked skepticism among Dr. Silverman’s pregnant patients.
“The most frustrating response I’ve gotten from people is that we need to do more research before considering getting the COVID-19 vaccine,” Silverman said. “We have numerous studies showing the safety of mRNA vaccines. We don’t know how much more research we can provide to skeptics.”
Of the more than 1,000 infants hospitalized with coronavirus, the median age was just two months old, according to the report. Nine of the infants died.
Deborah Greenhouse, a pediatrician in South Carolina, said she plans to share the research with the families she cares for. “There’s absolutely a percentage of the population that looks at this and says, ‘Wow, I should get that vaccine.’ It will protect my baby,” she said.
Greenhouse believes the new data could solidify the risks of not getting vaccinated when talking to family members.
“I think if we could actually show them the hospitalization number, the intensive care number, the ventilator number, that might help convince some parents,” Greenhouse said. “Those things are a big deal.”
Greenhouse often waits to hear that someone is pregnant before bringing up the latest COVID-19 vaccines. Now she’s rethinking that strategy. “As pediatricians, we have expectant mothers in our office, and we have an opportunity to intervene and educate them and make them understand how important this is,” she said.
Silverman said doctors can encourage vaccination by making it as easy and simple as possible. He encouraged his fellow doctors to offer shots in their offices instead of sending patients to pharmacies or other health care providers.
“If someone has to leave the office to get vaccinated, they’re probably going to lose 30 to 40 percent of their opportunity to get vaccinated,” Silverman said.
But for some doctors, offering COVID-19 vaccinations in their clinics is a difficult calculation. It’s hard to predict how many patients will be interested in the vaccine, but it’s possible they won’t be able to fully refund any excess doses. Many health care providers cannot afford to lose money on unused doses, but they still need to order enough to vaccinate vulnerable patients who want to be vaccinated.
