A growing number of local governments have been putting pregnant women on the priority list for COVID-19 vaccinations following the death of a newborn earlier this month after the mother, who was infected with the coronavirus, was forced to give birth at home due to a shortage of hospital beds.
The woman in her 30s gave birth to the baby prematurely on Aug. 17 at her home in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture. At least nine hospitals turned away the woman, who had moderate symptoms, as they were all unable to take in a pregnant patient. The baby boy, born in the 29th week of pregnancy, was pronounced dead after being rushed to a hospital.
Since the start of the vaccine rollout in February, pregnant women have not been the focus of the government’s campaign to get people vaccinated, based on a lack of data from clinical trials, and that is not going to change for now.
But the health ministry changed its policy this week to a more proactive tone, calling on local governments to pay “special consideration” to opening up vaccine reservations for pregnant women and their partners as soon as possible.
“Pregnant women and lactating individuals can get the vaccine,” a ministry leaflet says. “There have been no reports that the vaccine has an adverse impact on pregnancy, the fetus, breast milk or genitals. Regardless of the stage of pregnancy, vaccination is recommended.”
Following the ministry’s move, Koto Ward in Tokyo has announced it will prioritize inoculations for expecting mothers, with the group given preferential access to reservations from Friday to Sunday. Vaccinations will be administered through Oct. 17.
Other cities that have made similar moves include Hadano and Isehara in Kanagawa Prefecture, Chiba and Funabashi in Chiba Prefecture, and Kuki and Konosu in Saitama Prefecture. Aichi Prefecture will also vaccinate pregnant women as well as their partners without reservations at prefecture-run mass vaccination centers, Gov. Hideaki Omura said Monday.
Infected pregnant women are at an increased risk of severe illness compared with other people, in addition to having a higher risk of experiencing a preterm birth, experts say.
“Data from the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology has shown that pregnant women infected with COVID-19 in the third trimester or after 28 weeks are at an increased risk of severe illness,” said Dr. Tetsuo Nakayama, a project professor at Kitasato Institute for Life Sciences and director of the Japanese Society of Clinical Virology. “As for the fetus, there is no higher risk of miscarriage reported, but the possibility of premature birth is higher.”
The recent policy shift came after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Aug. 11 recommended the vaccine to all pregnant women age 12 and older, saying its analysis did not find an increased risk of miscarriage among nearly 2,500 pregnant women who received a messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccine before 20 weeks of pregnancy. The CDC had previously not recommended they get the vaccine.
The CDC also endorsed the vaccine for breastfeeding mothers and those who are trying to get pregnant now or who might become pregnant in the future, adding that there’s no evidence any vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines, cause fertility problems.
A pregnant woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine in Pennsylvania in February. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Aug. 11 recommended the vaccine to all pregnant women age 12 and older. | REUTERS
Three days later, the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology revised their stance, recommending the mRNA-based vaccines to all pregnant women and their partners, given that about 80% of pregnant women’s infections come from their partners. Previously, it had said they could get the vaccine after consultation with a doctor.
As hospitals are overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients, there are fears that tragic cases like the one in Chiba could only increase, especially in areas with high numbers of virus cases. Even if infected patients call for an ambulance, experts saymany hospitals in hot spots such as the Tokyo metropolitan area are “virtually full” and hospitals are struggling to admit patients due to staff shortages.
“Premature babies do not have sufficiently developed lungs and they may need oxygenation,” Nakayama said. “The first five minutes (after birth) is the most critical time frame to conduct lifesaving measures. Otherwise, the babies could suffer from aftereffects or die.”
As a countermeasure, internal affairs minister Ryota Takeda said Monday that the Fire and Disaster Management Agency would ask prefectural governments to provide a list of medical facilities that can accept pregnant women who have tested positive for COVID-19.
Up until now, whenever there’s an emergency call from a COVID-19 patient, including from a pregnant woman, fire departments have had to call public health centers, which would then make arrangements to admit the patient to hospital — a time-consuming process.
From now on, whenever the fire departments determine there’s a need for an emergency gynecological procedure on a pregnant COVID-19 patient, they will be able to directly make such arrangements with hospitals to expedite their admission, he said.
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HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
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