Is the COVID-19 Vaccine Safe for Women Planning to Get Pregnant or Who Are Already Pregnant?
It’s perfectly natural to worry about what it’s like to get pregnant in the midst of an international pandemic. The promise of vaccinations is a tremendous light at the end of the tunnel, even for those who are planning to get pregnant or are already pregnant.The COVID-19 vaccines are perfectly safe for pregnant women and women who are planning on getting pregnant. The vaccine doesn’t actually contain any traces of the virus, nor can it alter your DNA in any way, shape, or form. The way the mRNA vaccine works is it uses trace amounts of a genetic code that tells your bodily cells to fabricate an inactive protein replica of the protein that covers the coronavirus. There’s no actual traces of the virus in the vaccine itself.
Your immune system immediately senses a foreign cell in your system and springs into action to produce antibodies that can effectively fight it off. In the process of eradicating the harmless foreign cell, your immune system stores the data of what the virus looks like, so that it can fight it off again if a virus with the same protein spike enters your system.
- If you’re planning to get pregnant, then it’s absolutely critical that you consider getting vaccinated beforehand. Pregnant women are considered a high-risk group for COVID-19. According to the CDC, pregnant women are more likely to suffer severe illness than their peers in the same age group with a similar medical history. It’s better to be well prepared than to suffer the consequences during your pregnancy.
- If you’re undergoing fertility treatments like IVF or IUI, you should definitely get vaccinated as soon as possible. The mRNA vaccine can’t enter into the nucleus of your cells and alter your DNA in any way and there’s no evidence showing that the vaccine will interfere with IVF or IUI treatment.
- If you’re already pregnant, you should still consider getting vaccinated. The chances of passing the virus onto your unborn child are very low, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen at all. Preterm or premature birth is also a major concern for pregnant women who test positive for COVID-19. This is definitely one of those situations where it’s better to be safe than sorry.
