In a joint statement, RANZCOGFootnote 1 and ATAGIFootnote 2 have recommended that pregnant women in Australia and New Zealand should be routinely offered the Pfizer mRNA vaccine [Cominarty] at any stage of pregnancy.

The recommendation stems from the significantly-increased risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19 for pregnant women and their unborn baby, in addition to the results of global surveillance data from large numbers of pregnant women that have not found any significant safety concerns with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Moreover, there is evidence to suggest that vaccination may provide protection to infants through passive immunity through cord blood and breast-milk.