Professor Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer, said: 'All the medical opinion is really clear that the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks in every area'

England’s chief physician, Professor Chris Whitty said that the advantages of vaccination outweigh any risks.

England’s chief Medical Officer warned today that almost every woman who is admitted to intensive care because of the coronavirus infection is not vaccinated.

Professor Chris Whitty urged mothers-to-be get jabbed as he shared ‘stark’ figures that just 33 vaccinated pregnant women were admitted to hospital with Covid between February and September.

Comparatively, 98% of hospital admissions (1 681) were for unjabbed moms-to-be. 

According to him, only 3 of the pregnant infected mothers admitted to intensive care had been vaccinated, as compared with 232 women who were unvaccinated.

At a Downing Street press conference, Professor Whitty stated that unvaccinated pregnant mothers can be hospitalized and that vaccinations are “preventable”. He also said it was clear that the vaccines’ benefits far outweigh any risks.

The current Covid jabs are not known to cause fertility problems or make it unsafe for unborn babies.

Many women are reluctant to have their jabs done due to misinformation or reports about temporary changes in menstrual flow after receiving an injection.

The top midwife in England, who is based in England, urged pregnant women to have their jabs last month.

SAGE advisor says that repeat Covid jabs may be available for “years to follow”. 

A SAGE advisor said that Britain could receive additional doses of Covid for many years.

Mike Tildesley is a member the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modeling group (Spi-M). He said repeated vaccinations can keep Covid away. 

Sky News interviewed him and he said that Covid was likely to be endemic in the long-term. We will probably have to continue to fight it by vaccinating for many years.

Professor Tildesley responded to a question asking if he feels confident about having a “normal Christmas”.

“If you look at the trends, we can see that even though there’s been quite some variation in the last few weeks and we still report very high cases, both the total number daily hospital admissions as well as the number of deaths is quite a ways below what we were in November of last year. This should provide us with some confidence.

He said, “The booster vaccine campaign is faring much better than it was just a few weeks back. But there are still quite a number of eligible persons who haven’t had their booster jab.”

“So, it’s important to make sure that as many people as possible get their booster shots over the next couple of weeks if we want to prevent restrictions from increasing.

Professor Whitty said: ‘I would… like to pull out in particular the issue of women who are pregnant or intending to get pregnant. 

“And I’d just like you to tell me some very stark facts because this is an important concern.

‘Based on academic data from February 1 to September 30… 1,714 pregnant women were admitted to hospital with Covid. 

1.681 of them, which would be 98%, hadn’t been vaccinated.

‘And if you go to those who are very severely ill in intensive care, of 235 women admitted to ICU, 232 of them – over 98 per cent – had not been vaccinated.

“These were preventable admissions into ICU, and there have been fatalities. 

He said, “All medical opinions are really clear that vaccinations have many benefits outweighing the risks.” 

“This belief is held by doctors as well as midwives and scientists alike.

“So I can please encourage any pregnant woman or anyone wishing for one to get their shot.

Because side effects are reported to be similar in women with and without pregnancies, there is no proof that vaccines pose a risk.

The virus can pose a higher risk for pregnant women if caught during the third trimester of pregnancy or are suffering from underlying conditions. There have also been more stillbirths in this age group.

The data also show that there are no proofs the jabs cause harm to unborn children and no vaccine ingredient can infect them.

British Fertility Society and Association of Reproductive and Clinical Scientists reassured women that they have no evidence or mechanisms to support the idea of jabs affecting fertility. 

Following today’s announcement by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, 8million people will receive Covid booster shots in their 40s. Second doses are recommended for 16 and 17. 

They said that people can come forward to get them “with confidence that they’re safe and effective”. Over 12 million top-up dosages have been given. 

Today’s data from the UK Health Security Agency showed that people who have had a third shot in spring are 80 per cent more likely to contract symptomatic Covid. 

While it has been difficult to quantify the effects on death and hospitalisation, officials stated that they expect protection to be even higher.

After the announcement was made, Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, acknowledged that Christmas locks might not be possible. He also appealed to Britons to receive their booster Covid jabs.   

The PM — who appeared to be suffering from a cold — warned that ‘storm clouds’ of infection were gathering over Europe and forcing nations back into restrictions, which highlighted how the UK ‘cannot afford to be complacent’. 

He said that if Britons want to ‘avoid restrictions on daily lives’ then they should get a booster, adding that it would be an ‘utter tragedy’ if double-vaccinated people died from Covid because they didn’t get one. 

According to him, people could need evidence of booster vaccinations in order to be considered “fully vaccinated” in the future. This move would create new chaos for Britons traveling plans. 

The PM was asked whether a lockdown might be needed if the number of cases continues to increase. He replied, “clearly we can’t rule anything out”, but insisted He didn’t see anything in the data that said he had to move now.

The comments came after Austria announced a draconian new lockdown on the unvaccinated, after a dramatic increase in infections, and the Netherlands imposed a curfew on pubs and restaurants to deal with rising cases. 

The outbreaks in France, Germany and Italy are also on the rise. Today, Patrick Vallance (his chief scientist) and Chris Whitty (his chief scientists) joined the PM at today’s Government Covid Briefing. 

Professor Whitty claimed that, even though Covid numbers were ‘broadly flat,’ there was still’substantial demand on the NHS. This is well-recognized by everyone, ministers included.

“But, in terms of Covid numbers they aren’t currently going up in the type of numbers that you’re seeing across continental Europe. But obviously, if they did, that would mean that we’d have to reevaluate the current situation. 

Q&A: Everything you need to know about Covid vaccines in pregnancy 

Can vaccines be used during pregnancy?

No evidence has been found that vaccines can cause an abnormal reaction in pregnancies. 

Expectant mothers report side effects similar to non-pregnant females. 

The real world data however shows that pregnant mothers are more at risk for Covid.

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists advises that pregnant women may have an increased risk of stillbirth or premature birth if they get Covid.

Last month, the NHS revealed that one fifth of Covid patients who were on ventilators for Covid had been given a jab by expectant mothers.

Are vaccines possible to harm the baby in the womb by injecting them?

Experts have uncovered no proof that the jabs can harm babies in the womb — and insist there’s no reason to suspect they would either.

Covid vaccines don’t contain any ingredients that could be dangerous to either a pregnant woman or a baby in development. 

They do not contain any organisms capable of multiplying in the body so that they are ineligible to infect unborn babies in the womb.

The effects of vaccines on pregnant animals have not been studied. 

Six research studies with 40,000 women have shown that vaccines do not increase the likelihood of miscarriage or preterm birth, nor does it raise the chances of a baby being born prematurely or having birth defects. 

In the UK, miscarriages are common in between 20 and 25% of pregnancies. Stillbirths occur in just one out 200 pregnancies.

Is it possible to have a harder time getting pregnant with vaccines?

The Covid vaccines do not appear to affect a woman’s ability to get pregnant. 

The British Fertility Society and Association of Reproductive and Clinical Scientists claim there is no scientific evidence or theory that any vaccines may affect women’s fertility. 

However, there are concerns because many women report a disrupted period following the jabs.  

On October 27, UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency had received 41.332 reports about side effects in menstrual cycles following the first, second, or third Covid jabs.

Women received nearly 50 million Covid vaccinations in the past five years. 

Side effects include heavier bleeding or less than normal, and more severe periods. But the MHRA said the changes are ‘transient in nature’ — meaning they are short-lived.  

Period problems are very common — with up to a quarter of women of childbearing age reporting them at any one time —  and are often triggered by stress. 

Why wasn’t the first vaccine offered to pregnant mothers?

Pregnant women were not included in the clinical trials for Covid jabs, as with other medicines and vaccines.

The UK’s vaccination advisers, Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation [JCVI], didn’t have sufficient evidence for pregnant women to be vaccinated in the initial rollout of jabs last winter.

But real-world data from the US — where 90,000 pregnant were given doses of Pfizer or Moderna — did not reveal any safety concerns.

These jabs were recommended by the JCVI for use in the UK. 

Studies have shown that jabs are just as effective for pregnant women than they were in those not yet pregnant.