Pregnant women now eligible for Covid vaccination

July 3, 2021

Ministry of Health has approved the recommendation of National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) for Pregnant women to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Highlights

This decision empowers pregnant women to make informed choice over taking Covid vaccination.
Pregnant women can now register on CoWIN or walk-in to nearest Covid vaccination centre to get vaccinated.

Background

India’s Covid vaccination program comprises of recommendations from experts in field of public health, immunization, disease control and information technology. This programme provides priority on strengthening India’s health care system on the basis of scientific & epidemiological evidence. It seeks to protect most vulnerable population groups. Earlier, all groups except pregnant women were eligible for Covid vaccination. Now, vaccination programme has been expanded to even pregnant women.

Covid during pregnancy

As per reports, Covid infection during pregnancy results in rapid deterioration of health of pregnant women. They are at a higher risk of severe diseases. Infection might affect fetus too. Pregnant women with COVID-19 infection are also at the higher risk of preterm birth. It also led to several adverse pregnancy outcomes like high chances of neonatal morbidity. Other factors of covid-19 infection during pregnancy include pre-existing co-morbidities, advanced maternal age, and high body mass Index.

National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG)

NITAG is an advisory committee comprising of multidisciplinary groups of experts who are responsible to provide information related to vaccines to national governments. These information helps in making evidence-based decisions regarding vaccine and immunization policy. NITAG in each country have different names. For Instance, in United States it is called as Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), in UK it is called as Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and it is called as National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) in India.

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