NHS advice on Covid vaccines for pregnant women has not changed, Health Secretary insists

Covid vaccine advice for pregnant women has not changed, health officials have insisted in response to false claims sweeping social media.

A Government safety document, which was updated this month, stated: ‘Sufficient reassurance of safe use of the vaccine in pregnant women cannot be provided at the present time’.

Prominent jab-hesitant zealots, including former footballer Matt Le Tissier, claimed new advice said the group ‘should not be taking’ the jabs. 

But ministers have hit back at the claims, which were based on an old document that was submitted to the drug regulator by Pfizer.

A Department of Health spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘The Government, clinical and independent advice has not changed.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) analysts estimate around 1.2million had the virus on any given day in England in the week ending August 16. Cases were down 15 per cent on the previous week

‘Covid vaccines are safe and highly effective both for pregnant women and for those who are breastfeeding.

‘This is backed by extensive real-world data, including global analysis outside of clinical trials and in healthcare settings.

‘We are doing everything we can to encourage eligible women to get vaccinated, to protect themselves and their babies from Covid.’

The false information stemmed from a document originally published in December 2020.

The report contained a summary of data Pfizer sent to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to get it approved. 

But the MHRA updated the documents on August 16 with new information on adults receiving a booster dose that is different the brand of vaccine they received for their first two jabs.

Social media users quickly spotted the section about pregnancy, which also stated: ‘Women who are breastfeeding should also not be vaccinated.’

The data was collected as of December 2020, before the vaccine was approved and had been tested on pregnant women. Expectant mothers were not included in initial trials, which is standard protocol for vaccines and other medicines.

Independent studies on more than 315,000 women have since shown that the Pfizer, and Moderna jabs are safe in pregnancy.

No increased risk of miscarriage, preterm birth, congenital abnormalities or health problems in babies has been found.

The overwhelming evidence prompted a change in advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) in April last year.

Uptake has remained sluggish among expectant mothers, however.

This is despite data clearly suggesting that Covid in pregnancy can raise the risk of complications.

The MHRA insisted the new data, which isn’t in the Pfizer document,  ‘supports the updated advice’ that encourages women to get vaccinated. 

Dr Victoria Male, an immunologist at Imperial College London, attempted to debunk the rumours on social media prior to the Government’s response.

She said Pfizer has not added any new pregnancy advice since December 2020, which is ‘why it still says the same as it did back then’.

She tweeted: ‘If you are pregnant in the UK, the NHS strongly recommend that you get the Covid vaccine if you are not yet protected.

‘The advice has not changed!’

The JCVI advises that pregnant women should be offered two vaccine doses and a booster.

None of the vaccines contain live coronavirus and cannot infect pregnant women or their unborn baby in the womb.