Recommendation 15

There has also been particularly low uptake of the vaccine among pregnant women. As of February 2022, analysis by UKHSA showed that only 58% had received 2 doses.34 The Royal College of Nursing told us that lessons needed to be learnt from the mixed messaging and confusion around the vaccination of pregnant women early in 2021. It noted that many of the most critically ill patients in recent waves of infection had been pregnant unvaccinated women.35 NHS England told us about particular initiatives it considered had improved uptake in this challenging cohort, while efforts had also been made to encourage vaccination before pregnancy.36 In UKSHA’s most recent vaccine surveillance report, the committee noted that women of black ethnicity and women living in the most deprived areas continued to be least likely to have been vaccinated before they gave birth.37