CDC recommends pregnant and nursing women receive COVID-19 vaccine, booster

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - The Centers for Disease Control and prevention (CDC) now recommends all pregnant and nursing women get the COVID-19 vaccine and the booster.

As expecting mother Ali Peaslee and her husband Alex play with their one-year-old son Aiden in their backyard, they’re preparing to welcome another member into their family.

Ali is 20 weeks pregnant. She is a nurse, and Alex researches new, upcoming medical drugs. Aiden is immunocompromised. The toddler has a respiratory disease. Their medical backgrounds have added another layer to Ali’s second pandemic pregnancy.

“There’s a lot of hesitancy about being pregnant and getting vaccinated,” Ali Peaslee said.

“I had a lot of skepticism at first, but as the research progressed…they knew they were definitely safe and that was the important thing at that time,” Alex Peaslee said.

Ali was breast feeding Aiden when she decided to get her initial COVID-19 vaccine last year.

“I was fully vaccinated before I was pregnant, and then, I got pregnant,” Ali Peaslee said.

Ali got her COVID-19 booster shot this week.

“We have good data to show that the vaccine does not show an increase in birth defects or an increase in miscarriage or still birth,” Dr. Michael Beninati, UW Assist. Prof. of Maternal Fetal Medicine said.

Beninati said medical professionals have compiled much more information about the vaccine and pregnancy over the last ten months.

“The reason for the booster is just the waning immunity from the first two shots,” Beninati said.

Wednesday, the CDC recommended that all pregnant and nursing women receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and the booster shot. “I don’t think getting the booster would be more inherently risky,” Beninati said.

After lots of questions and initial hesitancy, Ali is confident in her decision to get vaccinated. “I think it’s important to do it for my baby, for the patients I take care of, my immune compromised son,” Ali Peaslee said.

The data that led to the CDC’s recommendations for pregnant and nursing women to get the COVID-19 vaccine has come from several studies and monitoring systems throughout this past year.

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