A group comprising obstetricians and gynecologists is recommending pregnant women receive four vaccines prior to giving birth.
The federal government only recommends three.
The American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ACOG) on June 10 released its own maternal immunization schedule saying that pregnant women should receive shots against influenza and COVID-19 at any stage of pregnancy.
The tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine should be received at some point from 27 to 36 weeks gestation, and the maternal respiratory syncytial virus vaccine should be received at some time from 32 weeks to 36 weeks, 6 days of gestation, according to the organization.
Pregnant women may also take four other vaccines depending on their risk factors, according to the schedule. Available vaccines against measles, human papillomavirus, and varicella, or chickenpox, are not recommended at all, the group said.
“Changing national recommendations coupled with rampant vaccine misinformation are resulting in confusion for both patients and health care professionals,” ACOG President Dr. Camille Clare said in a statement. “It is incredibly important for the public to have access to reliable, evidence-based information on maternal immunizations from a trusted source. ACOG is proud to be that source.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention until mid-2025 had the same recommendations in place. Under an order from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the agency stopped recommending COVID-19 vaccination for healthy children and pregnant women.
The CDC still recommends influenza, Tdap, and respiratory syncytial virus vaccination during pregnancy.
The CDC also recommends pregnant women take a hepatitis B vaccine if they have not had one in the past.
Both the CDC and ACOG say shots against hepatitis A and meningococcal disease may be taken during pregnancy, depending on a woman’s status. ACOG says vaccines against pneumococcal disease may be used in consultation with OB-GYNs, but the CDC does not recommend those shots while pregnant.
The CDC did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC’s parent agency, told The Epoch Times previously—after ACOG stopped interacting with the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel over opposition to Kennedy replacing its members—that the action was “political grandstanding from an organization overly reliant on Big Pharma for funding.”
ACOG has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from pharmaceutical companies such as GlaxoSmithKline.
The organization’s schedule was endorsed by 13 other groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics. At least some of the other groups also accept money from pharmaceutical firms.
ACOG said that the recommendations are based on advice from its Immunization, Infectious Disease, and Public Health Preparedness Expert Work Group. The group includes multiple doctors who have reported funding from vaccine manufacturers such as Moderna.
All members of the group filed conflict of interest statements and any potential conflicts were “considered and managed,” ACOG stated.