A group representing doctors who work with pregnant women is recommending COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) said on Aug. 22 that it is advising pregnant women to receive vaccines against COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus.
The guidance, which was formed by some doctors who have been paid by COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers, diverges from the official government stance.
ACOG cited observational data from late 2023 and early 2024, offered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a June paper. Researchers said COVID-19 vaccination provided 44 percent protection against hospitalization associated with COVID-19, decreasing to negative 1 percent after 180 days.
A second cited paper, from researchers at the CDC and other institutions and published in 2024, estimated that COVID-19 vaccination provided 52 percent to 6 percent protection against COVID-19-like illness requiring medical care among pregnant women.
“It is well documented that respiratory conditions can cause poor outcomes during pregnancy, with pregnant women facing both severe illness and threats to the health of their pregnancy. Thanks to vaccines, severe outcomes from respiratory infections are largely preventable,” Dr. Steven Fleischman, president of ACOG, said in a statement.
ACOG has more than 60,000 members in the United States and other countries, according to its website.
Dr. Kimberly Biss, a senior OBGYN fellow for Independent Medical Alliance, told The Epoch Times in a message that she did not agree with the organization’s move.
“‘We know better than you do’ and ‘do as I say to do’ mentality will no longer work with our patients,” said Biss, who has expressed safety concerns with the COVID-19 vaccines.
“Trust in physicians is at an all-time low. Instead of continuing to recommend a genetic therapy, we chose to call vaccines amid many concerns from both patients and their health care providers. ACOG should develop a task force to demonstrate our concerns are invalid.”
Difference in Guidance
The CDC in May, under orders from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., stopped recommending COVID-19 vaccines to pregnant women. ACOG previously said that it was disappointed by the decision. Kennedy later said that pregnant women could receive a vaccine if they chose to.
The government “will continue to be the official resource for any guidance,” a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC’s parent agency, told The Epoch Times in an email.
Some states have kept in place advice that pregnant women receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
Just 14 percent of pregnant women received one of the COVID-19 vaccines in late 2024 or early 2025, according to the CDC.
Both ACOG and the CDC recommend influenza vaccination for pregnant women. ACOG recommends RSV vaccination, while the CDC says pregnant women can receive an RSV vaccine or choose to have their baby receive an antibody after they are born.
Safety Concerns
The Department of Health and Human Services, when outlining opposition to the COVID-19 vaccines, has pointed to a list of studies that includes papers finding persistence of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), contained in the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, in various parts of the body for weeks or months. The CDC’s advisory panel will review biodistribution and other issues related to COVID-19 vaccines, it recently announced.
Retsef Levi, the chair of the panel’s COVID-19 immunization work group, co-authored a paper published earlier this year that found a higher-than-expected number of miscarriages and other forms of fetal loss following COVID-19 vaccination in Israel.
According to package inserts for the three COVID-19 vaccines, available data on the shots administered to pregnant women “are insufficient to inform vaccine-associated risks in pregnancy.” Side effects of the vaccines include heart inflammation and severe allergic shock, although they cautioned that further research is needed.
ACOG said that other data, including a 2024 systematic review, show the vaccines are safe in pregnancy.
“Looking closely at the full body of data clearly shows that the COVID-19 vaccines are not only completely safe for use during pregnancy but also protective both during pregnancy and after the infant is born,” Dr. Mark Turrentine, who co-authored the college’s COVID-19 vaccine recommendation, said in a statement.
Payments
Turrentine has no payments from COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers listed on a government database of payments, while Dr. Kimberly Fortner, another named co-author, has $77.99 listed in payments from Pfizer in 2024 for food and beverage.
The update was formed by Turrentine and Fortner in conjunction with the ACOG Immunization, Infectious Disease, and Public Health Preparedness Expert Work Group, the college said.
The organization declined to provide the names of the members of the work group.
Dr. Kevin Ault, described on an ACOP webpage as a member of the work group, was paid $9,400 by Moderna in 2024 for consulting services, according to the database. Ault won an ACOG award in April for “doing an exemplary job of educating patients and other health care professionals about maternal immunization.”
Dr. Flor Munoz, listed on her LinkedIn as a member, received $13,350 from Moderna and $831 from Novavax, which also makes a COVID-19 vaccine, in 2023, according to the database.
Dr. Neil Silverman, listed on his employer’s website as another member, received $777 from Pfizer in 2024 for food and compensation for services other than consulting.
Dr. Brenna Hughes, listed online as another member, was paid $2,160 by Moderna, according to the database.
Dr. Linda Eckert, listed on her website as another member, received $1,690 from Pfizer for travel, lodging, and food in 2023.
“I was on advisory boards for both Moderna and Novavax in 2024, which are reimbursable activities on an hourly basis. Both relationships have ended and are not active in 2025, when the recommendations were written,” Munoz told The Epoch Times in an email.
Ault, Hughes, and Eckert did not return requests for comment by publication time. Silverman could not be reached.
Earlier in August, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended COVID-19 vaccination for most infants and many other children, diverging from the CDC, which only recommends the shots for healthy children. A review of payment records showed that a quarter of the doctors responsible for the recommendation have recently received funding from Pfizer, Moderna, or both.