Emily Oster

2 min Read Emily Oster

Emily Oster

What Is My COVID Risk If I’m Pregnant and Vaccinated?

Q&A on COVID and pregnancy

Emily Oster

2 min Read

If you are pregnant and vaccinated (and boosted), are you still at higher risk from COVID-19? I know it may be too early to know much about this, but most of the news is about your risks if you are pregnant and unvaccinated. What about if you are pregnant and vaccinated? 

—S

You’re right that most of the news is about issues in unvaccinated pregnant people, where the complications of COVID-19 are more severe than in the non-pregnant population. I have yet to see anything that specifically breaks down the risks to fully vaccinated pregnant people. However, we have not seen a lot of reports of serious illness in vaccinated pregnant people, so I take that as a very good sign.

I’ve talked to several OBs about this as well, and the consensus seems to be similar to the cold and flu advice we’d give people. As a pregnant person you’re slightly immunocompromised, and so it’s worth taking some small extra precautions around illness. If your toddler gets it, you might consider masking around them during their most contagious period, which maybe wouldn’t make sense if not pregnant. I’d wear masks in stores and on public transit, even if not mandated. But at this point, there isn’t any reason to think COVID is in a different category than the flu.

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