Health Ministry advises pregnant women get vaccine after 10 serious infections - The Times of Israel

The Health Ministry on Tuesday advised pregnant women to get the coronavirus vaccine after a number of women expecting a baby fell seriously ill with COVID-19, sparking concerns.

“In pregnant women who become infected and fall ill with the coronavirus, there is a higher incidence of a severe onset of the disease, than in a similar age population,” the ministry said.

Pregnant women who choose to be vaccinated can do so through their health maintenance organization, the ministry said.

Ten pregnant women have become seriously ill and hospitalized in recent days due to coronavirus infections, according to Hebrew media reports.

Due to the incidences of pregnant women becoming seriously ill, Health Ministry Director-General Chezy Levy consulted with the National Council for Women’s Diseases and Fertility and an official committee that decides on prioritization for vaccinations.

The committee recommended vaccinations for pregnant women who are regularly exposed to the public or who have medical conditions, while other expecting mothers can decide for themselves what to do based on Health Ministry advisories.

Clinical trials for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that Israel is using for its mass vaccination campaign did not include pregnant or lactating women and the companies have said there was insufficient data to show if there is any risk involved.

After the ten pregnant women were hospitalized recently with the virus — four in the past week — the Health Ministry ordered that all of them be tested to see if they were infected with the British strain, or another mutation detected in South Africa, the Kan public broadcaster reported Tuesday.