Saturday, September 23, 2023
Physicians - maximum of 0.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
ABIM Diplomates - maximum of 0.25 ABIM MOC points
Nurses - 0.25 ANCC Contact Hour(s) (0.25 contact hours are in the area of pharmacology)
Pharmacists - 0.25 Knowledge-based ACPE (0.025 CEUs)
Physician Assistant - 0.25 AAPA hour(s) of Category I credit
IPCE - 0.25 Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credit
This activity is intended for primary care clinicians, obstetricians, nurses/nurse practitioners, pharmacists, and other clinicians who care for women considering pregnancy.
The goal of this activity is for learners to be better able to assess the risk for spontaneous abortion associated with the COVID-19 booster vaccine.
Upon completion of this activity, participants will:
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Awarded 0.25 contact hour(s) of nursing continuing professional development for RNs and APNs; 0.25 contact hours are in the area of pharmacology.
Medscape designates this continuing education activity for 0.25 contact hour(s) (0.025 CEUs) (Universal Activity Number: JA0007105-0000-23-264-H01-P).
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AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™, you must receive a minimum score of 75% on the post-test.
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CME / ABIM MOC / CE Released: 7/5/2023
Valid for credit through: 7/5/2024, 11:59 PM EST
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Note: The information on the coronavirus outbreak is continually evolving. The content within this activity serves as a historical reference to the information that was available at the time of this publication. We continue to add to the collection of activities on this subject as new information becomes available. It is the policy of Medscape Education to avoid the mention of brand names or specific manufacturers in accredited educational activities. However, manufacturer names related to the approved COVID-19 vaccines are provided in this activity in an effort to promote clarity. The use of manufacturer names should not be viewed as an endorsement by Medscape of any specific product or manufacturer.
The bivalent booster vaccines against COVID-19 were approved for emergency use by the FDA on August 31, 2022, but uptake of these vaccines has been slow despite their promise of efficacy against infections with the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. So how effective are the bivalent mRNA-based vaccines? Lin and colleagues reported on their vaccine experience in one large US health system, and their results were published in the February 23 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.[1]
Researchers compared vaccine efficacy in the prevention of severe COVID-19 requiring hospitalization across thousands of patients older than age 12 years. The study period was from September 1, 2022 to December 8, 2022. The investigators compared bivalent booster vaccine with a monovalent booster vaccine. In days 15 to 99 after receiving the vaccine dose, the vaccine effectiveness rates against severe COVID-19 with the monovalent and bivalent vaccines were 25.2% and 58.7%, respectively. The result for the comparison including either severe COVID-19 or death due to COVID-19 as outcomes was similar, as were results limited to persons older than age 65 years. Finally, the bivalent vaccine was also more effective regardless of the presence of prior COVID-19.
Still, only 17% of eligible US residents have received the bivalent booster. One concern among pregnant women is the risk for spontaneous abortion associated with the COVID-19 vaccines. The current study by Kharbanda and colleagues addresses this issue.
COVID-19 boosters are not linked to an increased chance of miscarriage, according to a new study in JAMA Network Open.[2]
Researchers sought to learn whether a booster in early pregnancy, before 20 weeks, was associated with greater likelihood of spontaneous abortion.
They examined more than 100,000 pregnancies at 6 to 19 weeks from 8 health systems in the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD). They found that receiving a COVID-19 booster shot in a 28-day or 42-day exposure window did not increase the chances of miscarriage.
"These findings support the safety of COVID-19 booster vaccination in early pregnancy," they wrote.
The VSD is a collaboration between the Immunization Safety Office of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and large healthcare systems. The "observational, case-control, surveillance study" was conducted from November 1, 2021 to June 12, 2022.
"COVID infection during pregnancy increases risk of poor outcomes, yet many people who are pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant are hesitant to get a booster dose because of questions about safety," said Elyse Kharbanda, MD, senior investigator at HealthPartners Institute and lead author of the study in a press release.[2]
The University of Minnesota reported, "Previous studies have shown COIVD-19 primary vaccination is safe in pregnancy and not associated with an increased risk for miscarriage. Several studies have also shown COVID-19 can be more severe in pregnancy and lead to worse outcomes for the mother."
