MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/. Pregnant women from risk groups should vaccinate against the novel coronavirus after 22nd week, the Russian Health Ministry said in its COVID-19 vaccination guidelines.
"The Sputnik V vaccine should be used during pregnancy in cases when expected benefits for the mother outweigh potential risks for the baby. In other words, there are good reasons to vaccinate mothers from high-risk groups, beginning from the 22nd week of pregnancy," the document says.
The high-risk group includes pregnant women suffering from obesity, chronic lung diseases, diabetes, cardiovascular and oncological diseases, chronic kidney and liver conditions.
There is no information at the moment indicating that the Sputnik V vaccine may pose a threat to a pregnant women or a fetus, the ministry said.
"According to available reports about the influence of COVID-19 vaccines on pregnancy and perinatal statuses, there has been no information so far indicating that those vaccines [Sputnik V and Sputnik Light] may pose a threat to pregnant women or fetuses," the document says.
Meanwhile, the director of St. Petersburg’s Pasteur Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Areg Totolyan, said vaccination can help to protect pregnant women from severe consequences of COVID-19.
"At the moment, we can say for sure that vaccination is safe for expectant mothers. Sufficient data about vaccination’s impact on the baby has been accumulated worldwide. That is why immunization of mothers - specifically, timely vaccination of expectant mothers - is a reliable opportunity to protect them," he said.
The scientist said that the only exception from this rule are women who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.
On June 25, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko informed that taking into account the positive results of the pre-clinical safety trials of the vaccine and the accumulated data on its safety and efficiency during the post-registration trials, experts have decided to allow the use of Sputnik V among pregnant women. The minister explained that this allows pregnant women who have a high risk of developing severe symptoms of the disease to get vaccinated.