A US decision-analytic model projected that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy could prevent thousands of hospitalizations in both infants and pregnant patients. From January 2024 to May 2025, universal vaccination was estimated to avert about 2,500 infant hospitalizations and 450 maternal hospitalizations; at 50% coverage, about 1,250 infant and 228 maternal hospitalizations would be prevented. Without vaccination, more than 7,000 infant and 3,000 maternal hospitalizations were expected. Infants under 6 months, ineligible for vaccination, faced hospitalization risks comparable with adults aged 65 to 74 years. The analysis used COVID-NET surveillance data and applied vaccine effectiveness estimates of 35% for infant protection and 33% for maternal protection, with risk during pregnancy adjusted by a relative risk of 2.65. Limitations included reliance on recent epidemiologic patterns, observational vaccine effectiveness estimates, and historically low uptake of maternal vaccination.

Source: JAMA Pediatrics