GEORGE TOWN: Being pregnant is all the more reason for one to get vaccinated against Covid-19 as soon as possible, says a doctor.
The Health Ministry’s medical development division senior assistant director, Dr S. Gunenthira Rao, said people need to shed the misconception that it is risky for pregnant women to get vaccinated as they will have to breastfeed later.
Nothing is further from the truth, as they are at higher risk if not vaccinated since some of them are immuno-compromised (with comorbidities such as cancer, hypertension or diabetes) and will have lower immunity,” he said.
He was responding to The Star’s report on waiter Mohamad Nazri Mohamad Zakaria, 33, whose pregnant wife Nur Syuhada Ahmad Syukri, 26, died of Covid-19 last August. Mohamad Nazri said his wife was five months’ pregnant when she died and had yet to register for vaccination.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said as of last August, 70 pregnant Malaysian women had succumbed to Covid-19.Dr Gunenthira said the ministry’s guidelines on Covid-19 vaccination in terms of pregnancy and breastfeeding now clearly state that pregnant women are considered vulnerable and are susceptible to severe Covid-19 infections, especially in the second and third trimester.
He said although most pregnant women are asymptomatic, the need for intensive care unit admission and mechanical ventilation is higher, particularly with the newer Covid-19 variants of concern.
“The guidelines say severe infections in pregnancy were associated with higher risk of pulmonary embolism, iatrogenic prematurity, still births and maternal mortality,” he added.
Dr Gunenthira also said the levels of antibodies produced after Covid-19 vaccination are comparable with non-pregnant women as the vaccine-induced immune response results in more antibodies detected in the umbilical cord and breast milk.
“So women should also get the booster shots for better protection during pregnancy,” he added.
Separately, Mohamad Nazri, the waiter whose wife died, advised all pregnant women to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
“Getting vaccinated is a way to protect ourselves. Those who are vaccinated will have milder side effects. Since we were unsure of my wife’s eligibility back then, we did not register in time when she contracted the disease,” he said.
There were 18,277 Covid-19 cases among pregnant women reported in Malaysia from March 2020 to January this year, but based on this year’s records (up to Feb 15), there were no more Covid-19 deaths among pregnant women.