Media Statement by Yeo Bee Yin, Member of Parliament for Bakri on Wednesday 12 May 2021 in Bakri, Johor.
The government should pay serious considerations on the relevant issues with regards to pregnant women in National Covid-19 Immunisation Program (PICK)
Last Sunday afternoon, I had my first dose of vaccine in Dewan Maharani, Muar, according to government’s plan for members of parliament to get vaccinated in the first phase of National Covid-19 Immunisation Program (PICK). I would like to thank the professionalism of the officers that were responsible for vaccination program in Dewan Maharani. The process was smooth and efficient. As of today, except with arm sore, I have had no other side effects.
I am currently 17 weeks plus pregnant. While vaccination is proven safe and encouraged for the general population, World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the following on Covid-19 vaccination for pregnant women,
“Should pregnant women be vaccinated? While pregnancy puts women at higher risk of severe COVID-19, very little data are available to assess vaccine safety in pregnancy. Pregnant women may receive the vaccine if the benefit of vaccinating a pregnant woman outweighs the potential vaccine risks.”
The decision to vaccinate was based on the advice by my gynecologist due to the nature of my work with high risk of exposure to Covid-19. It was also made after reading multiple studies that reported that i. pregnant women are more likely than non-pregnant women of the same reproductive age to develop severe complications including require ICU admission and mechanical ventilation, if they are infected with Covid-19; ii. pregnant women with Covid-19 are also more likely than pregnant women without Covid-19 to deliver preterm, and to have babies needing neonatal ICU and iii. pre-existing comorbidities such as diabetes and hypertension, advanced maternal age (> 35 years), and high body mass index (> 30) are risk factors for severe Covid-19 pregnancy.
Even though there is lack of long-term safety data, I am not only facing high risk of exposure to Covid-19 but also high risk of complications if infected Covid-19 due to advanced maternal age and medical condition of gestational diabetes, so based on the WHO recommendation of “the benefits of vaccination outweigh potential vaccine risks”, I decided that I should be vaccinated. (Having said that, the decision to vaccinate should be on voluntary basis by each pregnant woman in consultation with her healthcare provider.)
In the process of vaccination, I found that there are some issues to consider and rooms for improvements for vaccination of pregnant women under PICK.
First, for pregnant women, not every type of vaccine is created equal because unlike the large-scale clinical trials of vaccine on general population with standard requirement of sample sizes, as of now, the availability of the safety data for pregnant women differs from one vaccine to another.
In Malaysia, most of pregnant women are in Phase 3 of vaccination program (younger population) but the type of vaccines being administered to them is still unknown. Malaysia government should gather the clinical data for pregnant women from different brands of vaccines under the country’s procurement plan, scrutinize them and make sure that the vaccines being administered to the pregnant women population are safe for pregnancy. The decision must be made based on SUFFICIENT data on pregnant women. Not only that, the government should also decide at which stage of pregnancy the pregnant women should be vaccinated, if she decides to be vaccinated. As of now, most of them will be scheduled to be vaccinated according to the age group with no consideration of the timing and stage of pregnancy.
Although pregnant women are at increased risk of severe illness from Covid-19, in PICK List of Priority Groups for Vaccination, only pregnant women who are working in healthcare sector are considered those with high risk of exposure, and for me, I was scheduled to be in Phase 1 of vaccination roll out as other members of parliament, but what about pregnant women working in other sectors, both public and private, that have equal risk of exposure?
All in all, I call upon the government to pay serious considerations on the relevant issues with regards to pregnant women in its vaccine rollout plan.
Lastly, the decisions and recommendations by the government for pregnant women must be communicated effectively to all pregnant women, such as making it compulsory for all obstetricians and gynaecologists to explain to their patients in a standardized easy-to-understand brochure that is available in different languages.
Such initiative by government will be greatly appreciated by the pregnant women population as they give peace of mind to them, many of whom are already going through morning sickness or other difficult pregnancy symptoms, mood-swings and anxiety of getting infected with Covid-19 due to the risk of complications.
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