Overview
- UBC-led researchers analyzed 19,899 COVID-affected pregnancies across eight provinces and one territory from April 2021 to December 2022.
- Vaccination was associated with about 60% lower hospitalization risk and 90% lower ICU admission compared with being unvaccinated at infection.
- Preterm birth risk fell by 20% during the Delta wave and 36% during the Omicron wave among those vaccinated.
- Vaccination received during pregnancy correlated with even lower rates of preterm birth and lower stillbirth rates than vaccination before pregnancy.
- Associations persisted after adjusting for age, BMI and comorbidities, and the findings enter a landscape where U.S. federal guidance has pared back routine advice for healthy pregnant people while Canadian and global bodies still recommend vaccination.