Vaccination of pregnant women must be prioritised

THE death of singer Siti Sarah Raissuddin, who succumbed to Covid-19 just days after giving birth to her fourth child at 28 weeks of pregnancy, is a tragic incident that leads us to seriously question the Covid-19 vaccination policy for pregnant mothers in Malaysia. Siti Sarah was not vaccinated, as were many maternal deaths from Covid-19.

To prevent any more unnecessary maternal deaths due to Covid-19, we are calling for the current guideline of “first dose to be administered between week 14 and 33 of the pregnancy” to be expanded to “first dose to be administered at any stage of pregnancy”.