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

Results from COVID-19 VACCINATION DURING PREGNANCY IN ONTARIO, Report 5, posted at https://www.bornontario.ca/en/whats-happening/resources/Documents/COVID-19-Vaccination-during-pregnancy-in-Ontario_Report_Dec2020-May2022.pdf

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

Among individuals who were pregnant in May 2022, nearly 80% had received two or more doses of COVID-19 vaccine before or during pregnancy, which is low compared to the general female population of reproductive age in Ontario (approximately 91%). The data comes from the non-peer reviewed fifth CITF-funded report on COVID-19 vaccination coverage in pregnant people from the Better Outcomes Registry and Network (BORN) Ontario study, led by Dr. Deshayne Fell from the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) and the University of Ottawa.

The report is presented on the BORN website.

Key findings:

  • Among people who were pregnant in May 2022:
    • 9% had received three doses of COVID-19 vaccine before or during pregnancy
    • 40% had received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine before or during pregnancy.
    • 1% had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine before or during pregnancy.
  • Among people who were pregnant in May 2022, COVID-19 vaccine coverage of:
    • one or more doses before or during pregnancy across public health regions in Ontario ranged from 78.0% to 84.3%.
    • at least 3 doses before or during pregnancy across public health regions ranged from 33.9% to 44.7%.

Since late April 2021, pregnant people in Ontario have been prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination as part of Phase 2 of the COVID-19 vaccine program implementation, due to the higher rates of COVID-19 hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and death compared with non-pregnant individuals. The data in the report refers to vaccine coverage among individuals who were pregnant between December 14, 2020 and May 31, 2022.

The study makes use of Better Outcomes Registry & Network (BORN) Ontario’s Registry, which routinely collects maternal and newborn data from all hospitals and midwifery practice groups in Ontario. The research team will continue to evaluate and regularly report on COVID-19 vaccination in pregnant individuals in Ontario. This new report builds on the fourth report.