Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Covid Shots Are Safe For Pregnant Women, More Research Shows
CNN: Pfizer And Moderna Covid-19 Vaccines Do Not Appear To Pose Serious Risk During Pregnancy, Research Shows
The mRNA Covid-19 vaccines made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna do not appear to pose any serious risk during pregnancy, according to new data published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Pregnant women with Covid-19 are at increased risk for severe illness and may be at increased risk for adverse outcomes, such as preterm birth, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study, along with existing research showing mRNA vaccines are effective in pregnant and lactating women, suggests that the benefits of the vaccines outweigh the risks. (Mascarenhas and Firger, 4/21)
AP: New Data Reassuring For COVID-19 Vaccination In Pregnancy
One of the largest reports on COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy bolsters evidence that the shots are safe, although the authors say more comprehensive research is needed. The preliminary results are based on reports from more than 35,000 U.S. women who received either the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech shots while pregnant. Their rates of miscarriage, premature births and other complications were comparable to those observed in published reports on pregnant women before the pandemic. (Tanner, 4/21)
In other vaccine news —
CNN: Only 2 "Breakthrough" Infections Among Hundreds Of Fully Vaccinated People, New Study Finds
For fully vaccinated people, the risk of still getting Covid-19 -- described as "breakthrough infections" -- remains extremely low, a new study out of New York suggests. Among 417 employees at Rockefeller University who were fully vaccinated with either the Pfizer or Moderna shots, two of them or about .5%, had breakthrough infections later, according to the study published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Howard, 4/21)
NBC News: Breakthrough Infections With Coronavirus Variants Reported, But Cases Appear Mild
Two reports of so-called coronavirus breakthrough infections — in which fully vaccinated people get the illness anyway — suggest that the vaccines still offer strong protection against severe disease even in the face of variants. The cases, which were detailed Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, were those of two women out of more than 400 fully vaccinated study participants who were tested for Covid-19 weekly. Both women developed mild cases and recovered quickly. (Sayal, 4/21)
Philadelphia Inquirer: The COVID-19 Vaccine Won’t Give You Herpes. Here’s What The Science Says
“It’s called a logical fallacy,” said William Schaffner, an infectious-disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville and also a liaison to the CDC’s immunization advisory committee, which makes vaccine recommendations that shape insurance coverage. “The Israeli doctors fell into this trap because the COVID-19 vaccination and the shingles outbreaks were related in time.” Even the Israelis, who published in the journal Rheumatology, acknowledge that “the study design is not structured to determine a causal relationship.” (McCullough, 4/21)
The Atlantic: Vaccines Are Making COVID-19 A Young Person's Disease
Like many parents, Jason Newland, a pediatrician at Washington University in St. Louis and a dad to three teens ages 19, 17, and 15, now lives in a mixed-vaccination household. His 19-year-old got vaccinated with Johnson & Johnson’s shot two weeks ago and the 17-year-old with Pfizer’s, which is available to teens as young as 16. The 15-year-old is still waiting for her shot, though—a bit impatiently now. “She’s like, ‘Dude, look at me here,’” Newland told me. “‘Why don’t you just tell them I’m 16?’” But because certain pharmaceutical companies set certain age cutoffs for their clinical trial, she alone in her family can’t get a COVID-19 shot. She’s the only one who remains vulnerable. She’s the only one who has to quarantine from all her friends if she gets exposed. (Zhang, 4/21)
