COVID-19 vaccination in pregnant women in Sweden and Norway

Temporal trends and determinants of COVID-19 vaccine coverage and series initiation during pregnancy in Ontario, Canada, December 2020 to December 2021: A population-based retrospective cohort study

“…In addition, although obesity and chronic medical conditions are known risk factors for severe COVID-19 [29] , we found that COVID-19 vaccine series initiation was not higher among those with a high pre-pregnancy body mass index and only marginally higher among pregnant individuals with pre-existing chronic medical conditions. Higher pre-pregnancy body mass index was found to be associated with lower uptake of COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy in Sweden, but not Norway, and uptake was higher among those with pre-existing chronic medical conditions in both countries [18] .…”

“…A population-based study in Scotland estimated that 32.3% of those who gave birth in October 2021 had received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine, whereas 77.4% of females 18-44 years in the general population had received two doses by that time [17] . In contrast, a population-based cohort study of 164,560 women who gave birth from May 2021 through May 2022 in Sweden and Norway found that vaccine uptake by pregnant women was comparable to vaccination rates in the general female population of reproductive age [18] . It was reported that 78% and 87% of women giving birth in Sweden and Norway, respectively, were vaccinated with at least one dose of COVID-19 prior to delivery, which was similar to the overall vaccination coverage in these countries (i.e., 77% in Sweden, 85% in Norway) [18] .…”

“…Several studies have sought to identify factors associated with COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy—being younger, not having sufficient prenatal care, living in areas with higher socioeconomic deprivation, and being a smoker during pregnancy were among the factors found to be associated with lower likelihood of getting vaccinated against COVID-19 during pregnancy [16] , [17] , [18] , [27] , [28] . Our results are very comparable to these earlier findings.…”

“…Vaccination during pregnancy has been found to provide similarly effective protection against COVID-19 as in non-pregnant people [4] , [5] , and reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection and hospitalization in young infants [6] , [7] , [8] . Despite these benefits, and increasing evidence that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy is not associated with increased risk of adverse outcomes such as spontaneous abortion, preterm birth, stillbirth, postpartum hemorrhage, low neonatal Apgar scores, or neonatal intensive care unit admission [9] , [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] , [14] , [15] , vaccine coverage has been lower in pregnant individuals in some (e.g., United States [U.S.] [16] and Scotland [17] ), but not all (e.g., Sweden and Norway [18] ), countries compared to the female population of reproductive age.…”

Investing in robust surveillance of the effects of covid-19 and future emerging infections in pregnancy should be prioritised

“…In the UK, the latest vaccination rates are around 70%, with vaccines being recommended to pregnant women with risk factors in December 2020 and to all pregnant women from April 2021 as part of the age prioritised rollout in the general population 2. In Norway, vaccination was recommended for pregnant women with risk factors from May 2021 and for all pregnant women in their second or third trimester from 18 August 2021 3. Surveillance data from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health show that vaccination uptake among pregnant women rose from 27% in September 2021 to 75% in February 2022 and 87% in May 2022 3.…”