Pregnant individuals urged to get vaccinated amid hospitalization of infants with COVID-19

Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton and Kingston — January 5, 2022 — CHEO, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), McMaster Children’s Hospital and Kingston Health Sciences Centre are encouraging anyone who is pregnant to get vaccinated against COVID-19 for the protection of their baby, as well as themselves. With the rise of Omicron, hospitals are starting to see a disturbing, potential new trend — admissions of infants with COVID-19.

Since the middle of December, CHEO and McMaster Children’s Hospital have admitted a total of six babies under the age of 12 months because of COVID-19 infection. Previous to that, it was a rare occurrence that an infant was hospitalized for COVID-19 infection. At CHEO, where they are tracking vaccination status in these particular cases, all the admitted infants’ mothers had not been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Infants are especially at risk because they have an immature immune system that has difficulty combatting disease. And if the mother has not been vaccinated or infected, they do not have the protection of maternal antibodies transferred during the third trimester of pregnancy. It is well studied in other infectious diseases such as flu and whooping cough (pertussis) that maternal antibodies resulting from vaccination provide protection for the first six months of a child’s life.

According to CHEO’s BORN Ontario, which has been monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on the province’s pregnant population, their research shows no evidence that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy is associated with any adverse pregnancy outcomes in Ontario. This is consistent with data that have been generated from other jurisdictions and countries.

CHEO, SickKids, McMaster Children’s Hospital and Kingston Health Sciences Centre know how stressful the hospitalization of a child is for a family. No one wants their little one to be sick in hospital, let alone for COVID-19. For this reason, as well as for the health of the pregnant individual, we are encouraging anyone who is pregnant and eligible for vaccination — as well as all eligible members in their household — to get vaccinated. In addition, we strongly support ongoing efforts to better understand the reasons why some pregnant individuals are not being vaccinated; this could help inform approaches for education that are tailored to the needs of specific communities.

Pregnant individuals are considered a high-risk population for COVID-19 complications, based on higher rates of COVID-19 hospitalization, ICU admission, and death compared with non-pregnant individuals of the same age. As a result, pregnant individuals are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated, not only to protect themselves, but also their babies, who receive antibodies from their mothers during pregnancy. Despite being at high risk, BORN Ontario reports vaccine coverage in pregnant individuals has remained lower than in the general population, even though they have been prioritized.

If pregnant individuals have questions or concerns about COVID-19 vaccination, they can reach out to their health-care provider or utilize resources like the Pandemic Pregnancy Guide or VaxFacts.

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Media contacts

Paddy Moore, CHEO
o. 613-737-7600, ext. 3536 | c. 613-769-5553 | pmoore@cheo.on.ca

Sarah Warr, SickKids
Sarah.warr@sickkids.ca

Wendy Stewart, Hamilton Health Sciences McMaster Children’s Hospital
stewartwen@hhsc.ca

John Pereira, Kingston Health Sciences Centre
john.pereira@kingstonhsc.ca  

 

About The Hospital for Sick Children

The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) is recognized as one of the world’s foremost paediatric health-care institutions and is Canada’s leading centre dedicated to advancing children’s health through the integration of patient care, research and education. Founded in 1875 and affiliated with the University of Toronto, SickKids is one of Canada’s most research-intensive hospitals and has generated discoveries that have helped children globally. Its mission is to provide the best in complex and specialized family-centred care; pioneer scientific and clinical advancements; share expertise; foster an academic environment that nurtures health-care professionals; and champion an accessible, comprehensive and sustainable child health system. SickKids is a founding member of Kids Health Alliance, a network of partners working to create a high quality, consistent and coordinated approach to paediatric health care that is centred around children, youth and their families. SickKids is proud of its vision for Healthier Children. A Better World.

About McMaster Children’s Hospital

McMaster Children’s Hospital has been providing care to children from across the region since 1988. Here, patients ranging in age from infancy to 17 receive care through a family-centred approach that accounts for the child’s emotional, mental and physical well-being.

The hospital is home to the fastest-growing kids-only emergency department in Ontario, one of Canada’s most advanced neonatal intensive care units, and a range of programs and clinics with unique expertise in a number of areas including children’s cancer, digestive diseases, and mental health.

About Kingston Health Sciences Centre

Kingston Health Sciences Centre is southeastern Ontario’s complex, acute and specialty care, research and teaching hospital. Consisting of our Hotel Dieu site and Kingston General site, as well as the Cancer Centre of Southeastern Ontario and our research institute, we care for more than 500,000 patients and their families from across our region.

As one of the region’s largest employers, we are home to nearly 6,000 staff, more than 2,000 health-care learners and 1,000 volunteers who are committed to partnering with patients and families to ensure that we continually provide high quality, compassionate care. Fully affiliated with Queen’s University, we are ranked as one of Canada’s top research hospitals.