Would you fly unvaccinated and 20 weeks pregnant?

[Velvetscrunchy]

Exactly what the subject says. I’m considering going abroad for a few weeks to visit family, and it’s only a 2 hour flight. My midwife has said it’s fine but everyone keeps scaring me with talks of Covid and the dangers of travel etc. Would you?

Madness. Why aren't you vaccinated?

Sorry! For some reason OP's posts didn't show for me so I missed your updates before I posted.

Good luck with the vaccination & pregnancy.

@Velvetscrunchy

Is it a no because of the risk of Covid or the risk of travelling?

there is no risk of flying at 20 wks.

No way would I fly without being fully vaccinated pregnant or not.

No no no. Get the vaccine or shield. Google pregnant covid and see how many pregnant are in icu - all not vaccinated.

If for medical reasons you can’t have the vaccine I’d wait until the baby is here.

No, I’m currently isolating because I got Covid and I’m 21 weeks pregnant. Thankfully because of one vaccine my symptoms were manageable but what alarmed me and made me think of holidays is that you get no pre-warning you will get Covid and test positive. I did nothing overly “risky” the week I caught it so I could have easily caught it on holiday without realising and then ended up having to pay to isolate abroad after testing positive. Especially being unvaccinated the risk is very real to catch it at any point, including abroad and having to isolate there.

This isn’t a scare factor post just a “sh*t it really does come out of nowhere at anytime” reality post. X

My friend is a doctor and has just delivered a 25-weeker to an unvaccinated pregnant Covid patient.

Patient was ventilated and unconscious last I heard. Baby was not expected to make it.

These stories need to be out there more prominently.

Having just travelled yes I would, the airports and planes are empty. Not to mention highly filtered air being refreshed every 10 minutes in the cabin. You have more chance getting covid in a restaurant than on a aircraft.

I would be wearing a N95 mask though all the times when out and about if I was you, uk and abroad.

I have been travelling throughout the pandemic for work and at that time everyone was PCR tested and Antigen tested 3hrs before the flights. In this instance you were probably safer in the empty airports and planes than anywhere else.
I'm not sure what the airlines are asking for in terms of pre flight testing now so things might have changed.
If you wear a mask and sanitize your self and the area around your seat, seatbelt etc. then I don't see how your risk is any greater than long to a shop or restaurant. Of course this depends on the infection rates of the country you are travelling to and how cautious your family are at minimizing contact.
It's extremely hard if you haven't seen family in months. I managed to see my elderly parents and siblings for the first time in 20months the other week.

Long = trip

@EarringsandLipstick because people have a choice over their bodies. Absolutely sick of this guilt tripping over people who decide not to have the vaccine, decide to delay having the vaccine or aren’t able to have the vaccine. You do not know the OP full situation and your comment isn’t helpful or relevant to the post. Eurgh it’s so annoying!

i am 21weeks, single vaxxed at the mo and flew twice at the weekend - didn't give it a second thought tbh. my husband is a pilot (double vaxxed) and he (obviously!) flies regularly too - again, i don't give it a second thought.

No, I read somewhere that research was done and pregnant women are more susceptible to Covid-19. A few weeks ago our FM was urging pregnant women to get vaccinated for this very reason. I wouldn't travel if I hadn't been vaccinated and I'm not pregnant.

No I wouldn't. I wouldn't fly without being fully vaccinated and I'm not pregnant.

I wouldn’t.

I’m just back from two flights, both were jam packed full flights. If anyone had covid asymptomatically on either flight an unvaccinated person would have been very vulnerable!

Nope. I am double jabbed and still not risking flying anywhere.

@saleorbouy

I have been travelling throughout the pandemic for work and at that time everyone was PCR tested and Antigen tested 3hrs before the flights. In this instance you were probably safer in the empty airports and planes than anywhere else. I'm not sure what the airlines are asking for in terms of pre flight testing now so things might have changed. If you wear a mask and sanitize your self and the area around your seat, seatbelt etc. then I don't see how your risk is any greater than long to a shop or restaurant. Of course this depends on the infection rates of the country you are travelling to and how cautious your family are at minimizing contact. It's extremely hard if you haven't seen family in months. I managed to see my elderly parents and siblings for the first time in 20months the other week.

The risk is different though. You have approximately 8 people in a 1.5m radius of you while sitting. And that’s being conservative.

There’s been lots of data on transmission on flights and the seats most vulnerable around a positive person. It’s really not the same as sitting in a Restaurant.

I agree though it’s about how we see the risk. Myself and my dc all caught covid and it was the best green light ever - a month after recovery I had us all in flights to visit family I hadn’t seen in a year, knowing we were awash with natural antibodies. (Kids are too young for a vaccine).

I'm double jabbed and planning on flying to see my family next week, who I haven't seen since start of 2020. I will be 14 weeks then, it's the best chance I have of seeing them if we go into another lockdown, they are all vaccinated and I'll be following restrictions. Flight is about 1hr. I wouldn't be going if I wasn't vaccinated and won't be going anywhere else abroad apart from seeing them this year.

If you’re going to visit family can they come to you instead?

Being pregnant I would want to reduce as much risk as possible, covid or not.

Thing is people are wanting a choice to be vaccinated (or not). They then also want to do higher risk activities. (insert very important reason for them to do what they want).

There as a warning months ago that the double jabbed would have advantages and flying is one of them.

I have flown and honestly would not want to fly unvaccinated (and I am not particularly risk adverse). All those people in flying tubes. Planes are often 80% plus full so you cannot even spread out.

@EarringsandLipstick

Madness. Why aren't you vaccinated?

She has already explained she is going to be. However, nobody has to be vaccinated it's personal choice.

I would (and have at 20 weeks ) fully vaccinated or at least partly vaccinated
I would not without the vaccine

Most countries require passengers to be fully vaccinated or take a test before flying. Therefore a restaurant is more likely to have covid than a plane.

I'm going to go against the grain here and say I have flights booked for week 22 and a return in week 23 of pregnancy, I am unvaccinated, and didn't even consider not flying :/

I live in Germany and for various reasons have been regularly flying to and from the UK throughout the pandemic (all completely legally while following every quarantine and testing requirement), so I guess I've been desensitised.

Plus the current policy in Germany (at least in the state where I live) is that pregnant people should not have the vaccine, so I couldn't get it even if I wanted to.

So my experience of flying during the pandemic has been very reassuring ... everyone wears masks, the cabins are deep cleaned between each flight, about 60% of the air circulation is being replenished from outside while the remaining 40% is filtered, and nowadays everyone has had recent negative tests or is fully vaccinated.

In fact there was an article in a journal from last year that claimed that the risk of contracting covid during air travel is lower than from an office building, classroom, supermarket, or commuter train.

This obviously isn't saying there's no risk, people have done and will still catch covid from air travel, but you could equally catch it on a train. So my advice would be to do what feels comfortable for you.

@jojojo82 you can get the vaccine as a pregnant woman in Germany. You just need to ring about 50 doctors until you find one who will agree to do it. I found a FA who agreed to vaccinate me - but of course that's a choice not that you have to - just to let you know it is possible even though difficult

@Pongo101
Surely if Germany thought it was safe it wouldn’t be so difficult?

@GallowwayGirl88 it's a different healthcare system and it works differently. My own doctor just doesn't vaccinate. Doesn't want to. So she doesn't. She said it's too much hassle and she has enough patients. The vaccination center was booked out. Nose, throat, ear doctors were vaccinating but they hear pregnancy and don't have a clue so just say no not doing it. They're just trying to make a bit extra on the side. That's why I recommended to the previous poster to try a gynecologist. I found one (not my own as she doesn't vaccinate at all) who supports vaccination in pregnancy and who vaccinated me.

Just a totally different situation, not necessarily about vaccine safety rather the doctors individual choice.