COVID-19 vaccines pose no risk to pregnant women, local doctor says

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A local OB-GYN physician is assuring pregnant patients that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe.

Dr. Marnique Jones has delivered thousands of babies at Women’s Care Florida for 25 years.

So it’s been tough, she said, to see many of her current patients anxious about getting COVID-19 and the rollout of the two vaccines.

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“Our pregnant patients are very concerned,” Jones said.

Some of the questions they ask: “Is it safe?” “Did it come too quickly?” “Was it truly studied?” “Can I trust that this isn’t going to have any effect on me or my baby?”

Pregnant women were not part of either the Pfizer or Moderna trials. But after reviewing what we know about the vaccines so far, Dr. Jones believes “it’s safe.”

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“I do want them to know that it’s probably a good idea to do it, and that it would probably benefit them more so than harm them,” she said.

While there is no evidence to suggest the vaccine could hurt the mother or the baby, a pregnant woman get really sick if she gets COVID-19 because a woman’s immune system is different during pregnancy.

“(Their) immune system is much lower, so we’re at risk for more things,” Jones said. “They can end up in the ICU, and being in the ICU, that puts our babies at risk, which can increase their risk of pre-term labor.

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Jones said most of her patients are still declining the vaccine.

Cox Media Group