PHILADELPHIA — Most Americans are unaware or unsure of which vaccines the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends during pregnancy, according to a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania.
Almost half of those surveyed know that the CDC recommends getting the seasonal flu vaccine during pregnancy, while less than a third know that the CDC recommends the Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis), RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), and hepatitis B vaccines if one is not up to date on these vaccinations.
For the Covid-19 vaccine, over half of those surveyed do not know whether the CDC recommends it during pregnancy. While the CDC says that the vaccine helps reduce the risk for severe illness from Covid-19, it does not explicitly say the vaccine is recommended. Instead, the CDC says its Covid-19 vaccine recommendations are "now based on individual decision making, which emphasizes considering the benefits and risks of vaccination."
Women of childbearing age (ages 18-49) are significantly more knowledgeable than other adult groups about most of the CDC's pregnancy vaccine recommendations, although many in this group are also not sure what is recommended.
Uncertainty is a dominant finding in this survey. For each of four vaccines the CDC recommends during pregnancy, at least 45% of respondents are not sure whether the CDC recommends it.
