'Pregnant women can discuss vaccination with their doctors'

Dr Moune Jabre

A Qatar Foundation researcher has recommended that a pregnant woman can make a decision to get vaccinated for Covid-19 on two aspects: exposure to the virus or certain underlying medical conditions. “First, what's your risk of exposure to Covid-19? Are you a nurse dealing with Covid-19 patients? Is your husband or another member of the household in a profession that puts them at high risk of exposure? Either of these will significantly increase your risk of exposure,” said Dr Moune Jabre, assistant professor, Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar. “The second thing to consider is, do you suffer from any underlying medical conditions like chronic lung, kidney or heart problems, diabetes, high blood pressure or sickle cell disease? All of which could worsen the effects of Covid-19, if contracted,” noted Dr Jabre. According to Dr Jabre, if the answer to either of those questions is yes, then the individual should seriously consider getting the vaccine, as “the risk of getting infected, and getting seriously ill is much higher than the theoretical risk of adverse effects from the Covid-19 vaccine” .