COVID-19 vaccines approved for Emergency Use Authorization are currently available to and recommended by the CDC for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
The New England Journal of Medicine evaluated data from more than 35,000 pregnant individuals who received the mRNA (messenger RNA) vaccines, and found no obvious safety concerns.
The vaccines may also protect your newborn infant from COVID-19 if you are infected during pregnancy. Two recent Israeli studies (Perl et al. & Shlomai et al) find that COVID-19 antibodies pass robustly from mothers to their infants in breast milk for six weeks after vaccination and that no infants breastfed by their COVID-19-positive mothers had evidence of infection.
If you are pregnant and receive a COVID-19 vaccine, consider using v-safe, a tool from the CDC and FDA that uses text messaging and surveys to provide personalized health check-ins after you receive your vaccination.
If you have questions about getting the vaccine while pregnant or breastfeeding, we encourage you to speak to your health care provider.
Note: The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine received full FDA approval on August 23, 2021.