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What women need to know about the Covid-19 vaccines
Covid-19

What women need to know about the Covid-19 vaccines

THE DOSE

By Ava Mainieri, PhD
Senior Director of Research, She/her

4 min read

With so much information and misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines, we, at Tia, want to help our community understand to help you understand *wtf* is really going on. We’re doing exactly that with regular drops of THE DOSE, your science-backed guide to all things Covid-19 vaccines.

THE DOSE is brought to you by geneticist and evolutionary biologist, Dr. Ava Mainieri, Head of Research at Tia.

At Tia, we take a distinctly female approach. From anatomical and physiological distinctions to biosocial factors to the complexity of a female’s hormonal milieu, we know female health is fundamentally distinct from male health.

First, let’s talk about vaccines & women

While women were included in the Covid vaccine trials, there is still more to learn about sex-specific responses. From a long history of vaccine use, we do know how vaccines generally affect women.

The greater the immune response, the greater the protection you get from a vaccine.

Women have stronger immune responses to:

  • foreign antigens — this a benefit when fighting infections and vaccines
  • self-antigens — this causes greater susceptibility to autoimmune 
diseases

Conception & fertility

There is no evidence — clinical or theoretical — that the Covid-19 vaccines cause infertility. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends getting the vaccine even if you are trying to conceive. Patients undergoing fertility treatments should get vaccinated too!

During recent Covid vaccine trials, some female participants got pregnant. They did not experience adverse events and had healthy pregnancies.

There’s no evidence of increased risk of infertility, first or second-trimester loss, stillbirth, or congenital abnormalities from the Covid-19 vaccine.

Pregnancy

It is high-risk for a mom & baby to contract Covid but we know that vaccine safety data is strong. Getting vaccines while pregnant is normal, recommended & safe. Pregnant women regularly get seasonal flu, hepatitis B, whooping cough, and T dap vaccines. The safest choice for mom and baby is to get vaccinated!

Risk benefit analysis

The CDC estimates that pregnant women who contract Covid-19 are at a 3x higher risk of requiring admission to an ICU or requiring a ventilator and at a 70% higher risk of death than their non pregnant peers.

With 30 years of clinical data on mRNA treatment & vaccines, the Tia Care Team believes that the benefit of the vaccine outweighs any theoretical risks.

Breastfeeding

ACOG states that lactating people should be offered the vaccine with no theoretical risks. The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine encourages moms to continue breastfeeding post-vaccination. There are even benefits: vaccinated lactaters pass protective antibodies through milk to their babies.

In summary...

  • Vaccines are safe & often more effective in women.
  • If you are pregnant, trying to conceive, or breastfeeding, the Tia Care Team recommends the Covid vaccine. The benefits outweigh the risks.
  • No two patients are the same. We recommend a 1:1 discussion with your Tia provider to discuss the safety of the Covid vaccine for you & your needs.

THE DOSE is your science-backed guide to Covid-19 vaccines, from Tia. In service of science-backed public health, share THE DOSE with a friend!

SOURCES

1. Flanagan, K. L., Fink, A. L., Plebanski, M., & Klein, S. L. (2017). Sex and Gender Differences in the Outcomes of Vaccination over the Life Course. Annual review of cell and developmental biology, 33, 577–599. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-cellbio-100616-060718

2. Klein, S. L., Dhakal, S., Ursin, R. L., Deshpande, S., Sandberg, K., & Mauvais-Jarvis, F. (2020). Biological sex impacts COVID-19 outcomes. PLoS pathogens, 16(6), e1008570. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1008570

3. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). (2021, January 15). Retrieved January 15, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/index.html

4. Scully, E. P., Haverfield, J., Ursin, R. L., Tannenbaum, C., & Klein, S. L. (2020). Considering how biological sex impacts immune responses and COVID-19 outcomes. Nature reviews. Immunology, 20(7), 442–447. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-020-0348-8

5. Stevens, E. (n.d.). ABM Statement: Considerations for COVID-19 Vaccination in Lactation. Retrieved January 15, 2021, from https://abm.memberclicks.net/abm-statement-considerations-for-covid-19-vaccination-in-lactation

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