SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccination rates in pregnant women in Scotland

Stock, S. J. et al. (2022) SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccination rates in pregnant women in Scotland. Nature Medicine, 28(3), pp. 504-512. (doi: 10.1038/s41591-021-01666-2) (PMID:35027756)

Abstract

Population-level data on COVID-19 vaccine uptake in pregnancy and SARS-CoV-2 infection outcomes are lacking. We describe COVID-19 vaccine uptake and SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnant women in Scotland, using whole-population data from a national, prospective cohort. Between the start of a COVID-19 vaccine program in Scotland, on 8 December 2020 and 31 October 2021, 25,917 COVID-19 vaccinations were given to 18,457 pregnant women. Vaccine coverage was substantially lower in pregnant women than in the general female population of 18−44 years; 32.3% of women giving birth in October 2021 had two doses of vaccine compared to 77.4% in all women. The extended perinatal mortality rate for women who gave birth within 28 d of a COVID-19 diagnosis was 22.6 per 1,000 births (95% CI 12.9−38.5; pandemic background rate 5.6 per 1,000 births; 452 out of 80,456; 95% CI 5.1−6.2). Overall, 77.4% (3,833 out of 4,950; 95% CI 76.2−78.6) of SARS-CoV-2 infections, 90.9% (748 out of 823; 95% CI 88.7−92.7) of SARS-CoV-2 associated with hospital admission and 98% (102 out of 104; 95% CI 92.5−99.7) of SARS-CoV-2 associated with critical care admission, as well as all baby deaths, occurred in pregnant women who were unvaccinated at the time of COVID-19 diagnosis. Addressing low vaccine uptake rates in pregnant women is imperative to protect the health of women and babies in the ongoing pandemic.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: COPS is a sub-study of EAVE II, which is funded by the Medical Research Council (MR/R008345/1) with the support of BREATHE, the Health Data Research Hub for Respiratory Health (MC_PC_19004; A.S.), which is funded through the UK Research and Innovation Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and delivered through Health Data Research UK.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Katikireddi, Professor Vittal and Mccowan, Professor Colin and Auyeung, Dr Bonnie and Hopcroft, Dr Lisa
• Authors: Stock, S. J., Carruthers, J., Calvert, C., Denny, C., Donaghy, J., Goulding, A., Hopcroft, L. E.M., Hopkins, L., McLaughlin, T., Pan, J., Shi, T., Taylor, B., Agrawal, U., Auyeung, B., Katikireddi, S. V., McCowan, C., Murray, J., Simpson, C. R., Robertson, C., Vasileiou, E., Sheikh, A., and Wood, R.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cancer Sciences; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > MRC/CSO SPHSU
• Journal Name: Nature Medicine
• Publisher: Nature Research
• ISSN: 1078-8956
• ISSN (Online): 1546-170X
• Published Online: 13 January 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © The Author(s) 2022
• First Published: First published in Nature Medicine 28(3): 504-512
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence

Related URLs

• Correction