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In 2021, public health agencies and major professional medical organizations in the United States shifted from initial caution to actively promoting and recommending COVID-19 vaccination for pregnant individuals.
Here are 5 key events throughout 2021 that marked this promotion and recommendation push:
- CDC Preliminary Safety Study & Reassuring Guidance Update (April 2021)
- Event: The New England Journal of Medicine published real-world data from the CDC’s v-safe pregnancy registry following over 35,000 pregnant individuals who received mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. The study found no red flags or increased risks of miscarriage or complications.
- Impact: Following the published data on April 23, 2021, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky publicly expressed that the agency recommended pregnant individuals get vaccinated against COVID-19, easing earlier ambiguity.
- ACOG and SMFM Issue Strong Joint Recommendation (July 30, 2021)
- Event: The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM)—the leading medical associations for pregnancy care in the U.S.—updated their joint guidance to strongly recommend that all pregnant individuals receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
- Impact: This marked a critical consensus among frontline healthcare providers, urging doctors, midwives, and OB-GYNs to proactively recommend the vaccine during prenatal visits.
- CDC Issues Official Urgent Clinical Recommendation (August 11, 2021)
- Event: The CDC formally updated its guidance to explicitly recommend COVID-19 vaccination for all people who were pregnant, lactating, or planning to become pregnant.
- Impact: New safety data analyzing pregnancies in early gestation showed no increased risk of miscarriage. The official stance triggered widespread public health communications and public service announcements targeted at expectant mothers.
- CDC Issues Health Advisory Alert (COCA) Warning of Severe Risks (September 29, 2021)
- Event: The CDC issued an urgent Health Alert Network (HAN) advisory to healthcare providers and the public emphasizing that pregnant individuals faced a significantly higher risk of severe illness, ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, and death from COVID-19 compared to non-pregnant individuals.
- Impact: The alert urgently called for increased efforts to boost vaccination rates among pregnant individuals, given that less than 31% of pregnant women had been vaccinated by late September 2021.
- U.S. Surgeon General Public Campaign Push (Late Summer / Fall 2021)
- Event: U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy and HHS leadership launched dedicated public service announcements, virtual town halls, and social media campaigns addressing common misperceptions about fertility and pregnancy.
- Impact: Public health initiatives directly addressed vaccine hesitancy in expectant parents, emphasizing maternal-fetal protection and antibody transfer to newborns.