Vaccine can protect pregnant women from COVID-19 damage to placenta, fetus - Swiss experts

MOSCOW: Pregnant women are better protected against harm to their placenta and fetus when they are inoculated against the SARS-CoV-2, which increases pregnancy-linked risks, Sputnik news reported the Swiss Institute of Virology and Immunology said on Friday.

According to the findings of research teams of the institute, the virus can rapidly multiply and infect human placenta cells.

"The fact that the virus can infect and proliferate in the placenta demonstrates the need for women to be vaccinated," researchers were quoted as saying in a statement.

Pregnant women are 70 per cent more exposed to getting infected than other people from the same age group, with risks of severe progression increasing up to 10 per cent. In particular, risks of premature delivery or fetal death rise by two or three times, according to scientists.

"Messenger RNA [in vaccines] does not pass into the foetus, while the antibodies developed by the mother cross the placental barrier and will therefore protect the child," the institute explained.

Sputnik also reported that on Thursday, Marco Cavaleri, an official at the European Medicines Agency, said that the watchdog supports vaccination among pregnant women as it is a population group particularly exposed to the virus.

-- BERNAMA