
Research presented last week during the American Academy of Pediatrics 2025 National Conference & Exhibition shows maternal COVID-19 vaccination is linked to a 58% lower risk of being infected with the virus, as well as a lower risk of experiencing a stillbirth or preterm birth.
But a new poll from the Annenberg Public Policy Center suggests significant hesitation among pregnant women to get vaccinated against COVID-19, with just 38% of poll respondents saying they would recommend that someone who is pregnant get the COVID-19 shot.
Only 36% said COVID shots safe
Less than half, 42%, of the 1,700 respondents, said it was safe to take an mRNA COVID vaccine in pregnancy. And among women who are at childbearing age, 18 to 49 years, only 36% consider mRNA COVID-19 vaccines safe. Women in this age group are more likely (28%) than other adults (20%) to say it is false to state that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy is safe.
The margin of error for the poll is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
In April of 2024, only 19% of women of childbearing age said it’s false to state that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy is safe. But in May of this year Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, MD, and Food and Drug Administration Director Marty Makary, MD, announced they would no longer be recommending healthy pregnant women and children get seasonal COVID-19 shots.
While professional organizations criticized that move, confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine has faltered.