COVID-19 Cases and Disease Severity in Pregnancy and Neonatal Positivity Associated With Delta (B.1.617.2) and Omicron (B.1.1.529) Variant Predominance

Abstract

studies should expand gender identity response options to be more inclusive of nonbinary, genderqueer, and gendernonconforming populations. Limitations to this study include possible response and self-report bias, limited generalizability (only 15 states collected gender identity data), gender identity misclassification, and unmeasured confounders.

Decreased severity of COVID‐19 in vaccinated pregnant individuals during predominance of different SARS‐CoV‐2 variants

“…14 Unlike the increased illness severity seen with the Delta variant, the Omicron variant was associated with lower rates of COVID-19 severity. 8 During Omicron predominance, vaccination was associated with less severe disease and decreased oxygen requirement in pregnancy. 25 While in our cohort none of the vaccinated patients progressed to severe disease or required oxygen during that era (timeframe 3), no statistical significance was detected.…”

“…Disease severity in the pregnant population was worse during the predominance of the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant compared with preceding variants such as B.1.1.7, B.1.351, P.1 5,6 . Subsequently, data suggested that the highly contagious B.1.1.529 (Omicron) variant, 7 was associated with milder disease outcomes compared to the preceding Delta variant 8 …”

“…5,6 Subsequently, data suggested that the highly contagious B.1.1.529 (Omicron) variant, 7 was associated with milder disease outcomes compared to the preceding Delta variant. 8 Pregnant individuals were excluded from the original SARS-CoV-2 vaccine trials. 9,10 In January 2021, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) issued a joint statement stressing that vaccines should not be withheld from pregnant individuals.…”

“… 5 , 6 Subsequently, data suggested that the highly contagious B.1.1.529 (Omicron) variant, 7 was associated with milder disease outcomes compared to the preceding Delta variant. 8 …”

COVID-19 and pregnancy: clinical outcomes; mechanisms, and vaccine efficacy

“…The study's limitations include its reliance on cases from a single institution and the potential absence of data on vaccination or positive test results obtained outside the health care system. 67 Although studies to date have not established common occurrence of maternal-fetal transmission for SARS-CoV-2, [60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68] there does appear to be some evidence of vertical transmission with rates of 1 to 3% or higher consistently reported across multiple reports and meta-analyses. The rare possibility of in utero transmission cannot be ruled out.…”