Officials confirm Covid vaccines safe for breastfeeding mothers

Fort Regent. Coronavirus Covid-19 Vaccination Centre in the Queen’s Hall (Rotunda). Picture: ROB CURRIE

The clarification follows a case in which one Island mother says she was ‘passed from pillar to post’ as she sought reassurance about whether it was safe to be vaccinated while breastfeeding. The advice applies to both the Pfizer and Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs.

After giving birth to a daughter last September, the mother – who did not wish to be named – said she received a letter inviting her for a vaccination as she was classed as being at moderate risk.

‘I wanted to make sure that it was OK to have a vaccine while I was still breastfeeding,’ she said.

‘I called my GP surgery and was told I should speak to the [Covid-19] helpline, but the person I spoke to wasn’t sure and said they’d need to ask nurses at the vaccination centre at Fort Regent.

‘I was called back and the advice from the staff at Fort Regent was to call my GP, so I was back where I started and being passed from pillar to post.’

After a meeting of health officials was convened it was confirmed that the vaccines were recommended for breastfeeding mothers by the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

A government spokesperson said: ‘The vaccine has been shown to be safe and effective in clinical trials but it has not yet been tested in pregnancy, so until more information is available, those who are pregnant should not routinely have the vaccine.

‘Despite this, the vaccine is not thought to be a risk to the breastfeeding infant and the JCVI has recommended that the vaccine can be received by women who are breastfeeding.’

The mother, who contacted the JEP, said she was left disappointed by the fact that Jersey, where around 1,000 babies are born each year, seemed ill prepared for this scenario, and that she remained uncertain whether she would be booking an appointment to be vaccinated.

‘I find it bizarre that the team over here had not been briefed on this,’ she said. ‘I did eventually get some helpful advice from Family Nursing and Home Care, but if they were up to speed on this, why weren’t people from the Covid team and the GPs?’

Dr James Mair, of the Primary Care Body, said that Jersey GPs followed the latest guidance in the ‘Green Book’ published by Public Health England, which could be accessed online via the gov.uk website.

The relevant section of the Green Book, dated 11 February, states: ‘There is no known risk associated with giving non-live vaccines whilst breastfeeding. JCVI advises that breastfeeding women may be offered vaccination.’

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