COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Pregnant Women

Abstract

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues in our world, it is important to ensure immunity from the virus through rigorous and consistent vaccination among all populations. Pregnant women are a vulnerable population that so far have fallen behind in getting vaccinated against COVID-19. Public health agencies and government officials, as well as medical organizations, have attempted to address their vaccination hesitancy with limited success. For their safety, it is crucial to understand the underlying reasons why pregnant women are hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and strategize how to effectively communicate the vaccine’s safety and efficacy with this group. Through a systematic literature review, I analyzed 11 research papers that studied responses from pregnant populations regarding their vaccine hesitancy, and found a multitude of underlying factors influencing their decision not to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Fear of adverse effects to the unborn child and mother due to insufficient research data, the trimester of the mother, and mistrust in information provided by the government or public health agencies were major contributing factors to not receiving the vaccine. I recommended including pregnant women in future clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine as a solution to boosting confidence in the vaccine in pregnant women, and to include more communication professionals in government, public health, medical organizations, and social media efforts, as they are the leading experts in communicating information based on their audience. As pregnant women are a widely varied population, especially from country to country, localized and targeted information campaigns especially with the aid of social media was encouraged.