Several vaccines can be safely administered during pregnancy. In 2014, the WHO Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety conducted a comprehensive assessment of the existing scientific data on the safety of vaccines during pregnancy, concluding that:
- Pregnancy should not prevent pregnant women from receiving a vaccine.
- Although live or attenuated microbial vaccines, such as the MMR vaccine, might pose a theoretical risk to the fetus, no major vaccination-associated adverse outcomes have been reported.
The safety of many vaccines used in maternal and neonatal immunization has been evaluated from pharmacovigilance data and from small studies.
In general terms, vaccines made with live or attenuated organisms are contraindicated during pregnancy. However, it is important to note that there is no data showing proven teratogenic risk for any of the currently available vaccines, including the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella). The contraindication of MMR immunization during pregnancy is purely precautionary.
