Description:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Despite emerging evidence on safety and efficacy, most countries do not offer COVID‐19 vaccines to pregnant women even though they are at higher risk of complications from COVID‐19. We performed a web search of COVID‐19 vaccination policies for pregnant women under two categories: countries bearing a high burden of COVID‐19 cases and countries with a high burden of maternal and under‐five mortality. Of the top 20 countries affected by COVID‐19, 11 allow vaccination of pregnant women, of which two have deemed it safe to vaccinate pregnant women as a high‐risk group. In contrast, only five of the 20 countries with high under‐five mortality and maternal mortality allow vaccination of pregnant women and none of these countries has included them as part of a high‐risk group that should be vaccinated. India and Indonesia, with one‐fifth of the world's population, fall under both categories but do not include pregnant women as a priority group for COVID‐19 vaccination. To prevent COVID‐19 from further aggravating the already heavy burden of maternal and under‐five mortality, there is a strong case for including pregnant women as a high‐priority group for COVID‐19 vaccination. We recommend including COVID‐19 vaccination in routine antenatal care in all countries, particularly India and Indonesia in view of their high dual burden.</jats:p>