As healthcare providers on the frontlines receive the COVID-19 vaccine, those who are pregnant are weighing the odds on whether getting the vaccine is right for both them and their unborn child.
On Tuesday, Hughes will request that the NIH fund another vaccine study, allowing researchers to follow both, pregnant patients who receive a COVID-19 vaccine and those who choose not to, comparing how they do throughout the course of their pregnancy.
Hughes said ensuring pregnant women are included in vaccine studies moving forward, is vital to not only protecting them, but empowering them. Pregnancy is not a reason for patients to not be able to make their own decisions about whether or not they want to receive a therapy that may be helpful to them medically, Hughes said.
Updated Jan. 12, 2021 9:24 pm ET
WASHINGTON The Supreme Court Tuesday reinstated requirements that women seeking medication abortions make in-person visits to pick up their prescriptions, siding with the Trump administration over medical organizations that argued the mandate exposes patients to needless risks during the coronavirus pandemic.
The court’s three liberal justices dissented from the majority’s brief, unsigned order.
In March, the Food and Drug Administration relaxed in-person dispensing requirements for other drugs and encouraged telemedicine to reduce the spread of Covid-19. But the Trump administration, which opposes abortion rights, left in place regulations requiring women to make in-person visits to a hospital, clinic or physician’s office to pick up mifepristone, one of two drugs used to induce a medication abortion.
Dr. Jamil Elfarra with Norton Healthcare said that a pregnant woman might want to receive the vaccine depending on their level of risk of getting COVID-19.