The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is raising great concern all over the world. The recent introduction of vaccines has offered reason for optimism, however, new issues have arisen, such as vaccine reluctance. The safety of vaccines for pregnant women is one of the most serious of these concerns. The purpose of this review article is to provide updated international vaccine recommendations, results of ongoing studies and clinical trials, and the role of gynecologists in counseling the women to understand the risks versus benefits as well as form an informed decision towards vaccine acceptance for COVID-19. Although COVID-19 infection increases the risk of severe morbidity and mortality in pregnant women, pregnant women were not included in the initial vaccine trials. As a result, safety information is scarce. Nations have differing recommendations, though many have recently approved the COVID-19 immunization in pregnancy following a risk-benefit analysis. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) of the United Kingdom recently approved an mRNA vaccination for pregnant women. Vaccination is recommended by the CDC, ACOG, ARFM, and WHO. India recently took a stand, with the ICMR and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recommending vaccination during pregnancy and lactation.

Background: The world health organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a worldwide pandemic on 11th March 2020. As this is a novel illness, thus knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) related to the pandemic is a new area of research. KAP in a non-COVID facility, such as a psychiatric institution is rare.Methods: Cross-sectional survey with purposive sampling, conducted at central institute of psychiatry, Ranchi, India. A sample of 235 healthcare workers consisting of nurses, wards attendants, and housekeeping staff took part in the study. Participants completed a 36-item questionnaire assessing their KAP related to COVID-19.Results: 79.42% of healthcare workers in this study had adequate knowledge of COVID-19 symptomatology, transmission, management, and preventive measures. 89.79% were confident that India would win the battle against COVID-19. 35.32% fear to work in a hospital, but on the other hand, 80.85% of healthcare staff considered coming to work as part of their duty. Good practices like wearing a mask before leaving home and practicing proper cough hygiene were observed. The significant difference found in KAP among the three groups. Spearman’s correlation was significant between age, level of education of the participants with the KAP.Conclusions: The study suggests increased attention is required towards the training of the healthcare workers to enhance their knowledge and attitude so that the practices can be improved.

Background: New emerging coronavirus strains are responsible for the rampant spread of COVID-19. This pandemic is not only associated with detrimental health but also with low socio-economic and adverse psychological consequences among healthcare workers, especially those working in emergency departments.Methods: Cross-sectional survey with purposive sampling was conducted. In this report, 96 obstetrics and gynaecology residents from India took part. The participants filled out a 61 item questionnaire to determine the psychological effect of COVID-19 on obstetrics and gynaecology residents in an online survey.Results: 22.9% of residents were tested RT-PCR positive to SARS-CoV2. 52.1% were reported they received an adequate quantity of personal protective equipment (PPE). 71.9% and 68.8% of residents have claimed that the number of elective cases/procedures and average OPD footfall per month respectively have decreased during this pandemic. 72.9% of residents have reported a reduction in teaching and academic activities. Of all the participants 66.7% had stress, 68.7% had anxiety while 61.5% had symptoms of depression. According to the Kessler distress scale, 37.5% of residents are likely to have a serious mental disorder. 42.7% of respondents were reported to suffer from moderate to severe clinical insomnia. The FCV-19 scale mean score was 18.79±6.782 suggesting a mild to moderate level of fear of the ongoing pandemic. Anxiety, depression, fear, psychological distress and insomnia were all strongly correlated to stress (p<0.001).Conclusions: The study highlights the urgency in dealing with the psychological wellbeing of healthcare professionals, especially in overburdened emergency services departments like obstetrics and gynaecology in such an overwhelming pandemic scenario.

<p class="abstract">COVID-19 patients are particularly susceptible to secondary infections, both bacterial and fungal, most likely due to immunological dysregulation. Secondary systemic mucormycosis was identified to be the significant cause of this epidemic among fungal infections. Post-COVID-19 complications are being reported all around the world, creating major pressure on healthcare services and the lives of the patients. PRISMA guidelines were used to conduct a literature review for articles published on COVID-19 associated Mucormycosis (CAM) between January 1, 2020, to May 18, 2021. The inclusion criteria were based on peer-reviewed studies in English covering cases with COVID-associated mucormycosis (CAM). Articles describing fungal coinfections that were not mucormycosis cases, non-COVID-19 cases, and studies with a lack of clarity were excluded from the review. The review includes 31 articles comprising of 21 Case Reports and 10 Case Series. Out of 104 cases, 76% were from India, 77.9% were males. Predisposing variables such as diabetes (71.15%), hypertension (37.5%), and ketoacidosis (10.6%) were found to be substantial contributors to the aggressive growth of opportunistic fungal infections such as mucormycosis. Rhino-orbital mucormycosis (n=47), followed by Rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis (n=32), and Pulmonary mucormycosis (n=10) were commonly reported in the case studies and literature reviews which presented either following COVID-19 infection or a few weeks after active COVID-19 infection. Significant mortality (36.9%) was reported among patients. As per our observations, CAM could be a serious consequence of severe COVID-19, especially in people with uncontrolled diabetes.</p><p class="abstract"> </p>