As Prescribed: New research indicates COVID vax is safe for babies’ brains

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – When COVID-19 vaccines first became available to the public, there were still questions about whether they were safe for pregnant women and their unborn babies.

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Now, researchers have more evidence that the vaccines are safe for both, and Dr. Eleni Jaswa , a reproductive endocrinologist and fertility specialist with UCSF Health, joined “As Prescribed” with KCBS Radio’s Alice Wertz to explain.

“We followed thousands of pregnant individuals during the pandemic and compared how their babies developed, comparing those who got vaccinated during pregnancy and those who did not,” she told Wertz. “So, the comparison is: was a baby in their mom’s uterus exposed to this new novel vaccine? What we found – in a nutshell – was, up to 18 months, the developmental trajectories were totally on track… regardless of whether or not their moms were vaccinated during pregnancy.”

While the COVID-19 pandemic emergency order is over in the U.S., the virus is still circulating. For example, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data indicates there were more than 20,000 reported COVID-19 related hospitalizations from Jan. 28 to Feb. 3 of this year.

Everyone in the U.S. who is at least six months old should get vaccinated against COVID-19, per CDC recommendations. This is especially important for pregnant and recently pregnant people , who are more likely to get sick from the virus, said the centers. COVID-19 infection can also negatively impact fetuses.

“We really need to continue to track the development and other outcomes, because we know as far as nature nurture goes, nurture really begins in utero,” Jaswa said. “So, we want to make sure that what we’re doing to protect our pregnant mothers also is meaningfully helpful and not harmful for the babies that emerge from those pregnancies over time.”

She said the recent research, which was published in the JAMA Pediatrics journal , provides a lot of reassurance that COVID-19 vaccines are safe for babies’ brain development.

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Listen to this week’s “As Prescribed” to learn more. You can also listen to last week’s episode to learn about a UCSF surgeon working to prevent amputations here.