This is a summary, written by members of the CITF Secretariat, of:

Results from COVID-19 Vaccination During Pregnancy in Ontario, Report 6, posted at https://www.bornontario.ca/en/whats-happening/resources/Documents/COVID-19-Vaccination-during-pregnancy-in-Ontario_Report6.pdf

The results and/or conclusions contained in the research do not necessarily reflect the views of all CITF members.

The 6th report from the CITF-funded Better Outcomes Registry & Network (BORN) Ontario study that has not been peer-reviewed, led by Dr. Deshayne Fell (University of Ottawa), shows that 78% of pregnant individuals in Ontario had received one or more doses of COVID-19 vaccine before or during pregnancy by the end of September 2022. This is lower compared to the vaccination rate among females of reproductive age in Ontario, among whom approximately 89% had received at least one vaccine dose by September 2022.

BORN Ontario routinely collects maternal and newborn data from all hospitals and midwifery practice groups in Ontario.

Key findings:

  • Among people who were pregnant in September 2022:
    • 8% had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine before or during pregnancy;
    • 7% had received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine before or during pregnancy;
    • 6% had received three doses of COVID-19 vaccine before or during pregnancy.
  • Among people who were pregnant in September 2022, three-dose COVID-19 vaccine coverage, before or during pregnancy was:
    • lowest in the South West region of Ontario (36.4%) and highest in the Eastern region of the province (44.4%);
    • lowest among those who were younger than 25 years of age (18.2%) and highest among those who were40 years of age and older (48.9%);
    • lowest in the lowest neighbourhood income quintile (32.3%) and highest in the highest income quintile (48.4%).

Since late April 2021, pregnant people in Ontario have been prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination due to higher rates of COVID-19 hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and death compared with non-pregnant individuals. The data in the report refer to vaccine coverage among individuals who were pregnant between December 14, 2020 and September 30, 2022. This new report is presented on the BORN website.