Severe COVID-19 in pregnancy is almost exclusively limited to unvaccinated women – time for policies to change

January 26, 2022

Engjom H, van den Akker T, Aabakke A, et al.

The Lancet Regional Health - Europe

Using data from the International Network of Obstetric Survey Systems (INOSS), researchers evaluated the effect of COVID-19 illness in pregnant and postpartum women from May to December 2021. In six European countries included, severe cases of COVID-19 in pregnant people were among those who were unvaccinated. The proportion of unvaccinated patients among those admitted to critical care was 98% (225 out of 230) in the United Kingdom, 90% (47 out of 50) in the Netherlands, 100% (8 out of 8) in Norway, 100% (5 out of 5) in Finland, 100% (8 out of 8) in Denmark, and 80% (12 out of 15) in Italy. These findings indicate the need to encourage pregnant and postpartum people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to protect against severe illness.

Engjom H, van den Akker T, Aabakke A, et al. Severe COVID-19 in pregnancy is almost exclusively limited to unvaccinated women – time for policies to change. Lancet Reg Heal - Eur 2022; 13: 100313.

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