The J&K Government Will Not Administer COVID 19 Vaccinations To Pregnant And Lactating Women
The only thing that got me through 2020 was knowing that soon everyone would be vaccinated and the pandemic, will, at some indefinite point, finally end. Everyone was looking forward to getting jabbed in early 2021. But who could’ve guessed that our government so severely lacked foresight? Anyway, we aren’t going to discuss all the way in which this second wave was mishandled. We’re here to talk about the vaccine’s and how even now, the Jammu and Kashmir government is refusing to administer them to pregnant and lactating women despite multiple doctors saying it’s definitely okay to do so.
Amid a significant surge in COVID cases, the Jammu and Kashmir government has refused to administer COVID 19 vaccines to pregnant and lactating women. They stated that since these women were not part of any vaccine clinical trials, the effects are unpredictable. However, according to reports, various doctors and gynaecologists claim that the vaccine is safe for pregnant and lactating women as well.
Currently, there is an ongoing debate on whether pregnant and lactating women should or shouldn’t be vaccinated. Among all this chaos, the Director-General Family Welfare, MCH and Immunisation, Dr Saleem-ur-Rehman, said that pregnant woman and lactating mothers are not to be administered Covid vaccination.
He said, “As this vaccine is new, there has not been any clinical trials done on its impact on pregnant and lactating mothers, therefore the central government has issued a guideline which categorically mentions that these groups of women should not be administered Covid vaccine.”
Despite the increasing #Covid cases and rising demand for vaccination, the administration in #Jammu and #Kashmir has said no to #Covid jabs for #pregnant and lactating mothers. https://t.co/XYLxRIbdT3
— Greater Kashmir (@GreaterKashmir) May 3, 2021
Also Read: Akansha Ranjan Shares Why She Isn’t Worried About What’s In The Covid-19 Vaccine And It’s Hilarious
Further adding, “They (pregnant and lactating mothers) should avoid it. Naturally, when any new vaccine is launched, it is not known what impacts it will have on pregnant and lactating mothers unless any study backs it. There is not enough study that favours that pregnant and lactating mothers should receive the jab.” Dr Saleem-ur-Rehman also said that this guideline was being followed all over the country.
Despite the Jammu and Kashmir government being against it, numerous doctors have asked for the inclusion of pregnant and lactating women in the vaccination drive. Many gynaecologists in Kashmir are arguing that these women should be jabbed especially because they have a higher risk of contracting the coronavirus.
The Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI) that has over 37,000 doctors as its members has released an 11-page report that stated that it is recommended, all over the world, for pregnant and lactating mothers to be vaccinated. However, turning a blind eye to all these petitions and requests, the government has said that individual practitioners can’t advise pregnant and lactating mothers to get vaccinated until the health ministry changes the mandate.
Hopefully, the government will soon take the statements of all these doctors into consideration and include pregnant and lactating women in the vaccination drive. This nightmare has to end.
