Prof. Eran Dolev has resigned his position on the Health Ministry’s Vaccine Prioritization Committee, citing the vaccination of pregnant women in Israel without informed consent. Channel 12 on Thursday shared remarks by Prof. Dolev, who previously served as IDF chief medical officer and chair of the Ethics Bureau of the Medical Association. “I opposed vaccination during pregnancy for the reason that a vaccine like that has not been checked by any company, and that vaccine has not been approved by the FDA. That’s all,” he explained. The FDA considers the Pfizer Covid vaccine "unapproved," as it has only granted the vaccine "Emergency Use Authorization." The FDA says that products with EUA "have not undergone the same type of review as an FDA-approved or cleared product." Dolev continued, “When they didn’t accept my opinion - they’re allowed, I’m not the smartest - I wrote to committee coordinator Boaz Lev, that if it were decided to vaccinate pregnant women, in my opinion it must be explained to each woman who comes to receive a vaccine, that the vaccine has not been checked, the vaccine has not been approved, and to make her sign an informed consent form." “They did not accept my position.” The Health Ministry website maintains that it is “allowed and even desirable” for pregnant women to get vaccinated with the Covid vaccine, explaining, “according to Health Ministry experts, after checking mother and infant results of women vaccinated during pregnancy, there is no proof of any damage caused to the fetus as a result of the vaccine at any stage of pregnancy. Further, the Health Ministry emphasizes that no biological system in the vaccine that could harm the pregnancy or fetus is known of. Therefore, there is nothing preventing vaccination at any stage of pregnancy.” Pfizer announced on February 18 it had launched a study to evaluate the safety of the vaccine in pregnant women. CBS reported on Friday that the trial is the first Covid vaccine trial involving pregnant women, and that results from the Pfizer trial are only expected in the summer of 2022.
