India's Health Ministry allows Covid-19 vaccination for pregnant women

The Union health and family welfare ministry on Friday extended the vaccination drive against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) to pregnant women. Acting on the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation's (NTAGI) recommendations, the health ministry said that pregnant women can register themselves for the jab on government-run CoWin portal. They are also eligible for walk-ins to the nearest Covid-19 Vaccination Centre (CVC).

This comes days after Lav Agarwal, the joint secretary of the health ministry said that the NTAGI has recommended that the vaccination is safe for pregnant women.

Meanwhile, the cumulative number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 34-crore on Friday, the Centre announced in a daily bulletin.

As per the release, a total of 9,41,03,985 people in the age group of 18-44 across all states and Union territories have received their first dose and 22,73,477 received the second dose.

The data showed that 34,00,76,232 vaccine doses were administered as per the provisional report till 7am, with over 42 lakh (42,64,123) doses being given in a span of 24 hours.

Earlier on June 29, the health ministry issued guidelines for administering the Covid-19 vaccine to pregnant women. In the advisory, the ministry said, "after getting the vaccine injection, she can get a mild fever, pain at the injection site or feel unwell for 1-3 days. As per the advisory, they get the jab at any time during their pregnancy.

The Union health ministry also said, "most pregnant women will be asymptomatic or have a mild disease, but their health may deteriorate rapidly and that might affect the foetus too." "It is important that they take all precautions to protect themselves from acquiring Covid-19, including taking vaccination against Covid-19. It is therefore advised that a pregnant woman should take Covid-19 vaccines," it added in the advisory.

On side effects post vaccination, the ministry said that they can experience mild discomfort in their body. One may also experience soreness at the vaccinated spot accompanied with chills and slight fever.