COVID-19: Hospitals urge pregnant individuals to get vaccinated amid rise of infant admissions
Global News
Kingston Health Sciences Centre, CHEO, Sick Kids and McMaster Children's Hospital are urging pregnant women to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Kendra Vice is in her third trimester and just weeks away from welcoming her first child with her partner, and she finds news of the uptick in hospital admissions of infants with COVID-19 worrisome.
“This is the first time I’ve been a little bit extra nervous just because of the high number of cases,” Vice says.
Since the middle of December, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) and McMaster Children’s Hospital have admitted a total of six babies under the age of 12 months with a COVID-19 infection.
At CHEO, the mothers of all the admitted infants had not been vaccinated.
Pediatric infectious diseases physician, Dr. Kirk Leifso, says vaccinating pregnant women isn’t a new concept and is the best way to protect both mom and baby from serious complications.
“This works for influenza and another common respiratory tract infection that severely affects infants more than older people called pertussis,” says Dr. Leifso. “We advocate for immunization against influenza and pertussis for exactly the same reasons as now we advocate for vaccination against COVID in pregnant moms.”
Doctors at Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) say pregnant individuals are considered a high-risk population for COVID-19 complications, and getting vaccinated not only protects mom but her baby as well.
“The antibodies that we produce when we get a vaccine, one is called IgG, and that crosses the placenta and there is potentially protection for the baby for up to six months,” says Dr. Graeme Smith.
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