Pregnant women will not receive early Covid-19 vaccination invitation

Pregnant women will not have priority when it comes to receiving Covid-19 vaccinations, Health Minister Hugo de Jonge announced in a letter to the Tweede Kamer. The Cabinet reached its decision after consulting with the RIVM.

De Jonge wrote that an early invitation for pregnant women would do little to increase the speed at which this group was vaccinated.

Exceptions will be made for pregnant women with a medical pre-condition for whom infection with Covid-19 could also have possible consequences for their child.

De Jonge also argued that people in their twenties will receive an invitation for the job in the upcoming few weeks. “Further prioritization is therefore not necessary due to the high vaccination rates”, de Jonge said.

A study conducted earlier this month by the Netherlands obstetric surveillance system NethOss showed that pregnant women are 2.5 times more likely to be admitted to the ICU with a severe form of Covid-19 than women who are not with child.

The RIVM previously stated that the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are safe to be used by pregnant women based on statistics from the United States. In other countries, such as Belgium pregnant women have already had access for multiple weeks.

During the press conference on Friday, de Jonge admitted that there is no guarantee all adults will have access to a Covid-19 vaccine by July 1 due to the delivery delays of the Janssen vaccine. Many adults will have to wait until mid-July to receive their first shot.