A case for vaccinating adolescent girls for protection against COVID-19 during pregnancy and childbirth in resource-limited settings

Helena Blakeway, Lauren Hookham, Eve Nakabembe, Angela Koech, Asma Khalil, Shamez Ladhani, Marleen Temmerman, Kirsty Le Doare

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had severe implications worldwide, including increased adverse maternal and neonatal health outcomes. Vaccination is one way of protecting against these adverse health outcomes. However, in some low-resource settings, vaccine inequity has led to poor uptake of COVID-19 vaccination. There are very high rates of adolescent pregnancy in low-resource settings, which are likely to become even higher as we begin to see the full effects of COVID-19 lockdown measures, including school closures. Although the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination in adolescents are debated, we propose that adolescent girls should be prioritised in COVID vaccination roll out in low-resource settings. This is to provide protection from severe COVID-19 disease in pregnancy, preventing adverse maternal and neonatal health outcomes.

Original languageUndefined/Unknown
JournalObstetrics and Gynaecology, East Africa
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2023

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