HARRISBURG (TNS) — Pennsylvania’s acting health secretary said she received a COVID-19 vaccine booster after learning she is pregnant. Keara Klinepeter said she revealed her decision to help overcome vaccine hesitancy in other pregnant women.
“I recognize this is a deeply personal decision and I know there is a lot of misinformation out there about the vaccines in pregnancy. So let me reassure you,” said Klinepeter, who received the booster shot in November.
Klinepeter said she is expecting a boy due in June.
“So I understand the emotions, the hope, the anxiety that occurs when you know there’s a little person growing inside of you,” she said.
Klinepeter and two others spoke at UPMC Harrisburg Hospital on Tuesday to persuade pregnant women to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
In particular, they stressed a new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which involved 46,000 pregnant women. It found vaccinated women are at no greater risk than unvaccinated women for complications such as losing their baby or having a premature or underweight baby.
The study backed up previous research which found no negative impacts from vaccine on pregnant women.
Moreover, they said unvaccinated pregnant women face health risks from COVID-19.
“The changes that your body undergoes to accommodate your pregnancy can make you an increased risk for complications from COVID-19 like blood clots and severe lung injury and other complications of pregnancy,” said Dr. Denise Johnson, Pennsylvania’s physician general.
Johnson and others said research also suggests vaccination protection extends to unborn babies and also to babies being breastfed. Further, they said COVID-19 vaccine has no negative impact on fertility and likelihood of becoming pregnant.
The CDC says only about 40% of pregnant women are vaccinated and Moman-Nelson said the local rate is lower.
“I encourage all pregnant women to talk to their [health care] providers to get their questions answered and their concerns addressed, to be fully educated, and to make their own decisions about vaccination,” she said.
Klinepeter became the acting health secretary at the beginning of the year after the resignation of her predecessor, Alison Beam, took effect at the end of 2021.
