The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has released a recommended vaccine schedule for pregnant people, one that diverges from the advice currently offered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
ACOG is recommending four vaccines be routinely administered during pregnancy, with several other vaccines recommended under certain circumstances. The new schedule is endorsed by 13 medical societies and health organizations.
“Changing national recommendations coupled with rampant vaccine misinformation are resulting in confusion for both patients and health care professionals,” ACOG President Camille Clare said in a press release. “It is incredibly important for the public to have access to reliable, evidence-based information on maternal immunizations from a trusted source. ACOG is proud to be that source.”
The current CDC vaccine schedule for pregnant people includes only two recommendations, one for a vaccine to protect against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis, known as Tdap, and one to generate protection against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, in the developing fetus.
The CDC recommends one dose of the Tdap vaccine for each pregnancy, preferably between gestational weeks 27 and 36. For RSV, only Pfizer’s Abrysvo is approved for use and only in one pregnancy. In any subsequent pregnancies, infants should be protected against RSV via a monoclonal antibody injection at birth during the RSV season — which generally begins in the early autumn and can run through March or April — or at the beginning of the season, if the birth occurred at another time of the year.
