Dr Emmanuel Tinkorang, the Ashanti Regional Director of Health Service has stated that it is safe for pregnant women to receive COVID-19 vaccines without any health implications.

"At the beginning of the vaccination, we left out pregnant women but now evidence has shown that we can immunize pregnant women," he told the media at a briefing to update the public on the COVID-19 situation in the region.

He debunked perceptions that the vaccines could endanger the lives of pregnant women and their unborn babies, saying that scientific knowledge gathered since the outbreak of the pandemic did not support the claims.

"The pathophysiology of COVID-19 in pregnancy also mimics severe pre-eclampsia and that is one area where if you don't manage very well mortalities are always very high so when you immunise pregnant women it would be of benefit to them", he assured.

He said pregnant women had a higher risk of dying from COVID-19 and stressed the need to prioritise the immunization of pregnant women as a key strategy to reduce mortality.

"We are recommending Modena and Pfizer for pregnant women and the first dose would be given as early as possible in pregnancy and the second dose would follow that of the general population," he stated.