their vaccine along with modernas are the two mrna vaccines currently available in the united states after being granted emergency use authorization by the food and drug administration moreover while data is preliminary studies show the risks of covid during pregnancy are of increased premature labor increased intubation and increased deaths compared to those women that dont have covid in pregnancy dr jacques moritz medical director of tia women health told abc news it is awesome that they are doing a clinical trial in pregnant women because the physiology is so different in pregnant women said dr laura riley obgyninchief at newyorkpresbyterian and weill cornell medicine dr stephanie widmer is an emergency medicine physician and medical toxicology fellow in new york and a contributor to the abc news medical unit doses of the pfizerbiontech coronavirus disease vaccine are prepped for pregnant women at skippack pharmacy in schwenksville pa feb 11 2021 pfizer and biontech have announced a new trial to evaluate their covid19 vaccine in pregnant women these data werent collected during the phase 3 trial and will build confidence for the use of these vaccines in women who are pregnant in this feb 11 2021 file photo michelle melton who is 35 weeks pregnant receives the pfizerbiontech vaccine against the coronavirus disease at skippack pharma show more hannah beierreuters file the study will include healthy pregnant woman age 18 and older in the us canada argentina brazil chile mozambique south africa the united kingdom and spain the centers for disease control and prevention says getting vaccinated is a personal choice for anyone who is pregnant and recommends people speak to their health care providers if they have questions about relative risks pregnant women were excluded from the first clinical trials meaning theres limited data in this group the phase 23 trial will enroll approximately 4000 women within weeks 2434 of their pregnancy pfizer announced in a press release raehannah jamshidi md phd a pediatric resident with mcgovern medical school at uthealth in houston is a contributor to the abc news medical unit infants will also be assessed up until 6 months of age for transfer of protective antibodies from their vaccinated mother these data will reveal information about safety help us to understand the side effect profile of these vaccines in this population and the immune responses of both mother and baby riley said half will get the vaccine and half will get a placebo hannah beierreuters file women enrolled in the trial will be made aware of their vaccine status shortly after giving birth to allow those women who originally received placebo to be vaccinated while staying in the study more pregnant women with covid19 not more likely to die but possibly more likely to get sick studies find pregnant women have an increased risk of complications and developing severe covid19 which is why it is critical that we develop a vaccine that is safe and effective for this population dr william gruber senior vice president of