COVID vaccines may have averted thousands of hospital stays in infants, pregnant women over 18 months

Published by: CIDRAP
Published on: September 30, 2025
By Mary Van Beusekom

A US modeling study published yesterday in JAMA Pediatrics estimates that vaccinating pregnant women against COVID-19 prevented 7,000 hospitalizations in infants and 3,000 in pregnant women from January 2024 to May 2025.

The Stanford University–led research team analyzed COVID-NET surveillance data on COVID-19 hospitalization rates in infants younger than 6 months and incidence data on pregnant women aged 18 to 49 years under a relative risk of 2.65. The aim was to estimate the health impact of vaccination during pregnancy, mainly during the second or third trimester.

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RSV

Ontario to expand RSV vaccine availability for seniors 75 and older this fall

Published August 27, 2025

Published by: The Globe and Mail
Published on: August 27, 2025
By Kelly Grant

Beginning this fall, all Ontarians 75 and older will be eligible for a free shot that protects against respiratory syncytial virus.

Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones is scheduled to announce the expansion of public coverage for RSV vaccines on Wednesday, according to a Ministry of Health release that The Globe and Mail obtained in advance.

Until now, the Ontario government only paid for the RSV vaccine for seniors who were 60 and older and considered high risk, such as transplant recipients, dialysis patients and nursing home residents.

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vaccines

COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy found safe for infants

Published February 7, 2024

Published by: CIDRAP
Published on: February 7, 2024
By Stephanie Soucheray

A new study of almost 200,000 newborns in Sweden and Norway shows that maternal receipt of the COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy poses no risk to…

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Study: Spike in premature births caused by COVID, halted by vaccines

Photo of a baby. Credit: Unsplash/CC0 public domain.

premature births

Study: Spike in premature births caused by COVID, halted by vaccines

Published November 27, 2023

Published by: Medical Xpress
Published on: November 27, 2023
By Chris Barncard

COVID-19 caused an alarming surge in premature births, but vaccines were key to returning the early birth rate to pre-pandemic levels, according to a new analysis of California birth records.

“The effect of maternal COVID infection from the onset of the pandemic into 2023 is large, increasing the risk of preterm births over that time by 1.2 percentage points,” says Jenna Nobles, a University of Wisconsin–Madison sociology professor. “To move the needle on preterm birth that much is akin to a disastrous environmental exposure, like weeks of breathing intense wildfire smoke.”

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research

Study finds prenatal vaccination protects infants from COVID

Published November 10, 2023

Published by: CIDRAP
Published on: November 10, 2023
By Stephanie Soucheray

Infants as old as 6 months were protected from COVID‑19 infections only when mothers were vaccinated prenatally, and not before pregnancy, according to a new study in JAMA Network Open.

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Tag: infants