FOI release

Freedom of Information request on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines and pregnancies (FOI 21/1250)

Published 31 May 2022

FOI 21/1250

7th December 2021

Dear,

Thank you for your email.

The safety of COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy has been monitored closely throughout the vaccination programme.  The latest information on this can be found on the MHRA website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting. This has built on information from non-clinical data which did not raise any safety concerns and confirmed that the COVID-19 vaccines do not contain organisms that can multiply in the body, so they cannot infect an unborn baby in the womb.

There are two company sponsored international trials of COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy underway: one for COVID-19 Pfizer/BioNTech Vaccine (in UK and other countries) and one for COVID-19 Janssen Vaccine (mainly in USA and Brazil).  There are also government sponsored trials underway led by academic researchers, such as the Preg Cov trial in the UK.  Information relating to these trials is available publicly here; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04754594, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04765384, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-study-into-covid-19-vaccine-dose-interval-for-pregnant-women

In addition there are a number of observational studies in the UK and elsewhere around the world looking at COVID-19 vaccine effects in pregnancy.

The summary meeting minutes from the CHM are available on the MHRA website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/commission-on-human-medicines/about/membership#summary-minutes

If you have a query about the information provided, please reply to this email

If you disagree with how we have interpreted the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in answering your request, you can ask for an internal review. Please reply to this email, within two months of this reply, specifying that you would like an Internal Review to be carried out.

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation, we are not able to accept delivery of any documents or correspondence by post or courier to any of our offices

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

If you were to remain dissatisfied with the outcome of the internal review, you would have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Please bear in mind that the Information Commissioner will not normally review our handling of your request unless you have first contacted us to conduct an internal review. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely,

MHRA Customer Service Centre