Third vaccine dose safe ‘in general,’ no specific studies in pregnant people

Toronto’s Associate Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Vinita Dubey, answered viewer-submitted questions about COVID-19 and pregnancy in a LIVE Q&A with Dilshad Burman.

By Dilshad Burman

Posted November 5, 2021 5:42 pm.

Last Updated November 16, 2021 1:39 pm.

We know you have concerns about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and we’re working to get you answers, straight from the most trusted sources in a series of LIVE Q&As where experts and officials will answer your questions.

This week’s Q&A topic is ‘Pregnancy and COVID-19.’

Toronto’s Associate Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Vinita Dubey, will answer questions about the COVID-19 virus and vaccine as it relates to pregnancy in a LIVE interview on Wednesday, Nov. 10 at 12:30 p.m. on our YouTube page as well as here on our website.

Watch the full interview with Dilshad Burman in conversation with Dr. Vinita Dubey in the video above.

One of the questions the doctor addressed this week was summitted by a pregnant healthcare worker who asked whether it was safe to take a third COVID-19 vaccine booster dose.

Dr. Dubey says:

It’s a really good question. What I can say is we in general have data to show that the vaccine is safe in pregnancy.

I don’t think that there’s any particular data to support or to refute why the third dose would be more serious or harmful even in pregnancy. So I think that’s good news. We know that if you get it for your first or your second dose in pregnancy, the third doses have proven to be safe and effective in general.

Now you’re right, we don’t have a study that has shown booster doses in pregnancy and their outcomes, but we at least have that for non pregnancy. And we know that when you’re pregnant and you get your first, your second dose, that’s safe.

I think ultimately the third doses really are about your individual level protection. And so I would definitely encourage you to have that conversation with your doctor.

Health care workers are being provided those third booster doses and part of it is because they got their first dose so long ago. As well, many healthcare workers got a short interval between the first and second dose and we know that short interval, like one month or less, gives you the less strong immune response to that second dose.

Watch the doctor’s answer below:

Here are a few more questions Dr. Dubey addressed:

(Questions were moderated and answers have been edited for grammar, punctuation and clarity)

Q: Will pregnant women be in the first wave of people able to get a booster dose of the vaccine?

A: I think right now we have had booster recommendations come out and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) continues to look at who would be recommended to get boosters. So we’ll have to wait and see.

I think the one point to note is that Pfizer was just licensed in Canada by Health Canada for booster doses, and it was licensed to give a booster dose six months or more after your second dose. There are people who got their vaccine earlier than that, say a health care worker who is now eligible for example. But most of us actually, if we got a dose and we weren’t part of any specific category, it has not been six months yet since our second dose.

Q: Some family doctors are advising not to get vaccinated during pregnancy. Others are advising that it is safe. Why is there conflicting advice with vaccines and early pregnancy?

A: That’s unfortunate and I really am sorry for that conflicting advice.

There’s no question that right now, where we stand today, based on a lot of information, the recommendation is to get the vaccine at any stage in the pregnancy, preferably right away. Get it as soon as possible because in pregnancy, your risks from the COVID infection are much higher and you don’t want to wait because you could get a severe COVID illness.

Q: Does the COVID vaccine pose any danger to the unborn fetus?

A: There is no evidence that it poses any danger.

In fact, the COVID vaccine is not the only vaccine that we recommend in pregnancy. We have certainly recommended the flu vaccine in pregnancy, even the whooping cough vaccine in pregnancy, because we know that by vaccinating the pregnant person, the antibodies can actually pass to the growing baby. So then the baby is born with some antibodies, some level of protection when they need it, because they’re so vulnerable in those first few weeks.