Pregnant Women Should Pay Attention To This Before Injecting The COVID-19 Vaccine

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) has allowed pregnant women to get the COVID-19 vaccine. However, there are three things that must be done before the injection is performed.

Government Spokesperson for COVID-19 Reisa Broto Asmoro said the first thing to do was consult an obstetrician or midwife. Second, pregnant women must ensure that all basic requirements have been met.

"Before going to the vaccine post after registering, make sure you don't have a fever or body temperature below 37.5 degrees Celsius and blood pressure below 140/90 MMHG," said Reisa in a press statement from the Committee for the Acceleration of Handling COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery (KPCPEN). ) quoted Saturday, August 7th.

In addition to the requirements above, pregnant women who may be vaccinated are only those whose gestational age is at least 13 weeks or entering the second trimester. The reason is, at that age the content is stronger.

At that age the baby's weight in the womb usually reaches 42 grams with a length of up to 9 cm, the bones and skull harden, and the ability to hear also increases.

"Similarly, the brain's ability has developed in the first trimester, maybe it can feel kicks and pounding heartbeats and can see various expressions through ultrasound examinations," said Reisa.

Previously, the Ministry of Health had issued a Circular Letter of the Ministry of Health Number HK.02.01/I/2007/2021 regarding COVID-19 Vaccination for Pregnant Women and Screening Adjustments in the Implementation of the COVID-19 Vaccine.

According to the circular, giving COVID-19 vaccine to pregnant women is allowed because they are easily exposed, especially those who live in big cities and have certain health conditions. The effort to provide COVID-19 vaccine for pregnant women has been recommended by the National Immunization Expert Advisory Committee (ITAGI).

In practice, the procedures carried out are not much different from vaccinations in general. Before being injected, they will first pass through the screening stage or health check, starting from measuring body temperature, blood pressure, to taking a history of the disease.

The types of vaccines used are Pfizer and Moderna which use an mRNA platform and Sinovac which has an inactivated platform. Later, the provision in health care facilities will be adjusted to the availability of existing vaccines.