Meningococcal Vaccine: Protection, Risk, Schedule
How Vaccines During Pregnancy Protect Moms And Babies Before And After Birth
Why Vaccines Matter During PregnancyToday, we're going to discuss how vaccines can protect both you and your baby when you are pregnant. So whether you're planning a pregnancy, currently expecting, or have recently given birth, this information is for you and your family's health. I'm Katie Ward. I'm a professor at the College of Nursing and a nurse practitioner in the OB-GYN Department at the University of Utah.
Pregnancy is an exciting and joyful time, but it's also a time when your immune system is naturally suppressed. This makes pregnancy a time when moms are more vulnerable to certain infections that could harm both mom and baby. So that's where vaccines come in.
Vaccines are a safe and effective way to protect both of you. The Centers for Disease Control, or CDC, has very clear recommendations for vaccines before, during, and after pregnancy. These are recommendations based on extensive research and are designed with the safety of both the mother and the baby in mind.
Recommended Vaccines During Pregnancy: Tdap, Flu, COVID-19, and RSVSo, first, let's talk about the vaccines that the CDC routinely recommends during pregnancy.
TdapFirst, there's the Tdap vaccine. This vaccine protects against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis, also known as whooping cough. It's important to get this vaccine each and every pregnancy, ideally between 27 and 36 weeks. This timing allows you to pass on protective antibodies to your baby because whooping cough can make new babies very sick.
FluNext is the flu shot. This can be given before or during pregnancy, depending on the time of year. Pregnant women are actually at higher risk for severe complications from the flu, so this vaccine is especially important. And you want to get this vaccine in the fall so that the protection lasts through the winter flu season.
COVID-19The COVID-19 vaccine is also recommended for pregnant people. The mRNA vaccines, like Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech, are considered safe and effective during pregnancy. And like all the vaccines we're talking about, they give the baby some protection after delivery. So if you've not had a COVID vaccine in the past two months, it's time to get the new updated vaccine. If you have had a COVID infection recently, you can wait up to four months to get the next vaccine for the most protection. Babies can get the vaccine starting at six months.
RSVLastly, in pregnancy, is the RSV vaccine. The Pfizer RSV vaccine is given between 32 and 36 weeks. And, again, this timing is to make sure the immunity is passed to the baby to protect them after delivery also. RSV is a very common infection in new babies, especially in the winter, and the incidence of RSV has been on the rise lately. In little babies, premature babies, or babies that are born small, RSV can cause such severe complications that the baby needs to be put in the hospital on a ventilator and can even be fatal. So we take this infection very seriously.
Vaccines to Consider Before and After PregnancySo these four vaccines are the ones that we commonly give during a pregnancy for the most protection. Remember, these vaccines that we give when a woman is pregnant are thoroughly tested and monitored carefully for safety. They're all inactivated vaccines or viruses, which means they don't contain any live virus, and that makes them safe for you and the baby.
Now, there are some other vaccines that are best given before or after a pregnancy. For example, the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps, and rubella, should be given at least a month before someone gets pregnant if they haven't had it before. That's because it contains a live virus, and those are not recommended during pregnancy. Other vaccines that we don't give during pregnancy are the HPV vaccine, Gardasil, or the varicella, or chickenpox vaccine.
Ensuring Safety: Vaccine Research and Common ConcernsIn my dream world, people would see their healthcare provider before getting pregnant. It's a great time to talk about vaccines and catch up on anything that you're due for, especially the ones we can't give in pregnancy. Another thing we like to talk about before someone gets pregnant is who else is going to be around the pregnant mom or the baby and make sure they are vaccinated as well. So family members, including siblings, grandparents, and care providers, we want to make sure everyone around you is up to date.
For many people, they might not have access to health insurance or a healthcare provider prior to pregnancy, and we don't figure out that they need to catch up on these vaccines until during their pregnancy. But it is safe to give any of the vaccines immediately after giving birth. So sometimes if we find a mom lacks immunity, for example, to rubella, which is covered in the MMR vaccine, this can be given postpartum before someone goes home from the hospital.
Now, it's natural to have questions or concerns about vaccines during pregnancy, but rest assured, these vaccines have been carefully studied and are continuously monitored for safety. The most common side effects are mild, like soreness at the injection site or a slight fever. These side effects, they're outweighed by the protections they provide you and your baby.
All major health organizations, like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Nurse Midwives, pediatricians, and the CDC, all recommend these vaccines during pregnancy. Pregnant people are more likely to have severe complications from infections, including COVID. Both their symptoms are more severe and the complications are more severe.
Vaccines are our most powerful tool to protect your health and the health of your baby. So by following these recommendations, you're taking an important step in ensuring a healthy pregnancy and a strong start for your little one.
If you're thinking about getting pregnant in the near future, this is the time to make an appointment to see your healthcare provider and catch up on any vaccines you need. Your healthcare provider is, of course, your best resource for personalized advice about vaccines during pregnancy.
Today, we talked about the routine vaccines, but there are special circumstances, for example, if you're traveling somewhere, that you may need other vaccines as well, and your healthcare provider can help you with those also. So here's to your health and the health of your growing family. Thank you for listening to The Scope.
Can We Talk? There's A Need To Work Through Mistrust As Vax Rate Drops, Illness Rises.
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What May Be Next For CDC's Vaccine Advisory Committee After RFK Jr. Removed All Its Members?
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Shocked many when he announced all 17 sitting members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's independent vaccine advisory committee would be removed.
In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, Kennedy said the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) was plagued by conflicts of interest and was a "rubber stamp" for all vaccines.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is the agency that authorizes or approves vaccines. The ACIP holds public hearings and then has non-binding votes on potential recommendations, and the CDC director finalizes the recommendations.
Currently the CDC director role remains vacant and Kennedy has been making the final recommendations.
MORE: RFK Jr. Has promoted 'freedom of choice' while limiting vaccines, food
Kennedy told ABC News on Tuesday that the replacements for ACIP will not be "anti-vaxxers" and that he intends to replace the panel by the end of the month.
"We're going to be bringing people onto the ACIP panel -- not anti-vaxxers -- we're bringing people on who are credentialed scientists, who are highly credentialed physicians, who are going to do evidence-based medicine, who are going to be objective and who are going to follow the science and make critical public health determinations for our children based upon the best science," Kennedy said.
But Kennedy also suggested that current list of vaccines that are recommended for children would be re-analyzed by the new ACIP members, because he doesn't trust the science that led to their initial approvals.
A number of public health experts and vaccinologists told ABC News that they are concerned new committee members could lead to changes in which vaccines are no longer covered by public and private insurers, and that committee seats may now be filled by vaccine skeptics without scientific knowledge to evaluate the recommendations.
"I think it's disingenuous. I don't think this has anything to do with conflict of interest," Dr. Peter Hotez, a professor of pediatrics and molecular virology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, who has helped develop several vaccines, told ABC News. "I think he either wants to get rid of ACIP altogether or stack it with his with people that believe in his ... Pseudoscience."
A general view of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Sept. 30, 2014.
Tami Chappell/Reuters, FILE
Who will the new members of the committee be?The ACIP is comprised of up to 19 voting members, six ex officio members representing other federal agencies and 30 non-voting representatives of liaison organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association.
The panel develops recommendations on the use of vaccines in the U.S including timing and dosage or if there are situations in which a vaccine should not be used.
According to the CDC, ACIP makes recommendations on incorporating licensed new vaccines into the current immunization schedule as well as recommendations on vaccine formulations. It also reviews older vaccines to consider revising its recommendations.
The CDC sets immunization schedules for adults and children based on ACIP recommendations.
The members removed by Kennedy include experts in pediatrics, infectious diseases, global public health, epidemiology and family medicine.
Among them was Dr. Noel Brewer, a professor in the department of health behavior at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health.
According to his biography page on the school's website, he has been a co-author in the publication of more than 375 papers examining vaccination, tobacco use, medical screening and other cancer-related health behaviors.
Brewer told ABC News Live he and his colleagues did not see the purge coming and said he learned of it from journalists contacting him and asking if he saw Kennedy's op-ed in The Wall Street Journal.
He said that ACIP has one of the strictest set of rules around conflict-of-interest of any committee he's been part of and there's no evidence of members voting in favor of products because of personal, or business, interests.
"They work really hard to make sure that we don't have the conflicts of interest," Brewer said. "So, I can't accept any money from a drug company. I cannot accept any sort of funding from them. I can't be part of a lawsuit against a drug company. None of that stuff is possible."
The CDC has published a list of conflicts of interest declarations disclosed by voting members during public meetings since 2000, which was most recently updated in early March.
Dr. Dorit Reiss, a professor of law at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco -- whose research focuses on legal and policy issues related to vaccines -- told ABC News very few members of the committee have conflicts of interest, and those who do announce them at the beginning of the meeting and don't vote on those issues.
MORE: Why healthy children may need vaccination as RFK Jr. Cuts COVID shot recommendation for some kids
Brewer said he assumes Kennedy's new nominations will "have the same level of vaccine skepticism as the current secretary, but it's hard to know, and I'm just hoping for the best."
In a statement, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told ABC News, "Secretary Kennedy is committed to restoring public trust in vaccine policy by ensuring that advisory panels like ACIP are guided by independent, gold standard science -- free from conflicts of interest and ideology."
Dr. Gregory Poland, a vaccinologist and president and co-director of the Atria Research Institute -- who previously served two terms on the ACIP and then two terms as a liaison -- told ABC News there's only speculation as to whom Kennedy will select because no names have been announced.
However, he added he doesn't have concerns as long as the new members bring "some domain of expertise" and "adhere to the rigor of the scientific method."
"Presumably, the criteria will be around a concept that the administration has announced called 'Gold Standard Science,'" Poland said, referring to Trump's executive order in late May that seeks to promote the standard through replication, transparency, unbiased peer review and without conflicts of interest.
"I think a definition of 'gold standard science' is appropriate. We know what that means in the scientific field, and then if you array experts who adhere to gold standard science, that's a good thing," he continued.
Reiss said the timing of Kennedy's announcement comes just prior to an upcoming ACIP meeting scheduled to be held between June 25 and June 27 to discuss new recommendations for several vaccines, including the HPV vaccine and the COVID-19 vaccine.
"That's a really short time for vetting members, which usually takes months," she told ABC News. "The first question is: is Kennedy going to try to quickly put in a range of names, which would suggest that he either has been preparing a roster for a long time, or is he going to do it really quickly?"
Could any changes be coming to vaccine recommendations?Reiss said if the new ACIP members make any changes to vaccine recommendations, it could lead to changes related to insurance coverage.
Private insurance providers are required under the Affordable Care Act to cover ACIP recommendations, but not required to cover others, she said.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Testifies before the Senate Committee on Appropriations hearing on the Department of Health and Human Services budget, on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 20, 2025.
Ken Cedeno/Reuters
Additionally, the federal Vaccine for Children program, which provides vaccines to children whose parents or guardians may not be able to afford them, automatically covers vaccines recommended by ACIP and approved by the CDC.
For adults, Medicare covers costs of ACIP-recommended vaccines for patients with Part D plans, and state Medicaid agencies are required to cover costs for most beneficiaries receiving ACIP-recommended vaccinations.
If ACIP no longer recommends certain vaccines, federal programs may not be required to cover costs for adults or children.
"It could dramatically affect access, because people might not be able to cover childhood routine vaccines, which means that people who want to vaccinate their children won't be able to and it could affect the willingness of providers to give them," Reiss said.
Reiss said ACIP changing recommendations for vaccines could also affect the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which provides compensation for vaccine injuries if the CDC recommends the category of vaccine for routine administration to children or pregnant women.
ABC News' Youri Benadjaoud and Cheyenne Haslett contributed to this report.
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