Local doctors back CDC recommendation for pregnant women to get COVID vaccine

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC)—Local doctors are backing the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s strong recommendation that pregnant women get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Earlier this week, the CDC announced data shows pregnant women who received the shot before 20 weeks of pregnancy did not have an increased risk for miscarriage. The agency also found expectant mothers are at an increased risk of becoming severely ill with COVID.

News10NBC spoke to Dr. Daniel Grace, who works in obstetrics and gynecology at Rochester Regional Health. He told us the CDC has a running database of pregnant women who’ve gotten the COVID shot, and they have not seen a higher rate of pregnancy complications.

"Is it true that some people who received the COVID-19 vaccine have something bad happen later on in pregnancy? Yes, but that’s the same rate of those things happening as those who don’t receive the COVID-19 vaccine," Grace said. "Putting my money where my mouth is, if my family member was pregnant I would recommend it to them."

The CDC recommends women who are breastfeeding, trying to get pregnant, or might become pregnant in the future should get vaccinated.