College-Educated Pregnant Women More Likely to Receive COVID-19 Vaccine

Pregnant women with a college education were more likely to receive a COVID-19 vaccination when compared with those who were not college educated, according to a study published in Vaccine.¹ These findings support previous studies that have shown a positive correlation between vaccination and educational status.

“Once infected with COVID-19, pregnant women are at an increased risk of severe manifestations of COVID-19, resulting in ICU [intensive care unit] admission, mechanical ventilation, and death compared to non-pregnant women,” wrote authors of the study. “Pregnant women with COVID-19 are also at increased risk of preterm birth and may be at risk of other adverse pregnancy outcomes, including stillbirth, compared to pregnant women without COVID-19.”

Not only does pregnancy come with an increased risk of severe COVID-19, but those risks are also known to persist for up to a month following birth. Prominent conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension are also known to further complicate COVID-19 symptoms among pregnant women. With all these increased risks, pregnant women are among one of the most important populations in need of protection against COVID-19.²

Pregnant women are among one of the most important groups of patients that can benefit from COVID-19 vaccination. | image credit: Jacob Lund / stock.adobe.com

READ MORE: Women With Hypoglycemia Prior to Pregnancy Are More Likely to Have Adverse Outcomes

After several clinical trials as well as continuous research efforts to further improve them, COVID-19 vaccines have been deemed safe and effective for all individuals over 6 months of age.³ This includes all women who are pregnant, breastfeeding, trying to get pregnant, or expected to be pregnant in the future. Furthermore, highlighting its safety and effectiveness across pregnant populations, the vaccine has never been associated with any fertility issues among men or women.

“In Kenya, pregnant and lactating women were initially considered ineligible for vaccination,” they continued.¹ “Following global guidance and recommendations, an official social media post from the Kenya Ministry of Health on January 29, 2022, declared all COVID-19 vaccines safe for use for pregnant and breastfeeding women.”

During a similar time period, the CDC released recommendations for pregnant women in the US to receive the COVID-19 vaccine,⁴ dispelling myths that it was not safe or effective in this population. However, despite the evidence and recommendations provided by experts and public health leaders around the world—like the CDC—researchers of the current study wanted to better understand sentiments of the public toward the COVID-19 vaccine.

In Kenya, though, researchers have uncovered previously conflicting associations of education level and socioeconomic status with vaccine uptake. With these conflicting links even more prominent among pregnant women in Kenya, researchers focused on a specific patient population to better understand associations of COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

“Given the varying evidence of the role that socioeconomic factors can have on vaccine decision-making, we conducted this study to better understand the association between socioeconomic and educational status with vaccination attitudes and behaviors among pregnant women seeking health care services in 2 diverse clinics in Nairobi, Kenya,” they wrote.¹

With the study being conducted in Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi, researchers recruited pregnant women referred to 1 of 2 hospitals in the region: Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) and Pumwani Maternity Hospital (PMH). Each participant was given a survey that detailed various characteristics, including vaccine history, potential COVID-19 doses, reasons for or against vaccination, attitudes toward the COVID-19 disease and vaccine, and general socioeconomic characteristics.

The researchers’ final analysis included a total of 400 women (58% between 25 and 34 years old; 72% vaccinated) that completed surveys. Regarding the education splits explored in the study, 271 had at least a college education, and the remaining 129 participants were reported as having less than a college education.

For the survey questions related to history with the COVID-19 vaccine, participants at AKUH and those with at least some college education were more likely to receive the vaccination compared with individuals at PMH and those with no college education, respectively. A greater portion of those that did not receive a college education (36.4%) were more likely not to be vaccinated than those with a college education (24.7%).

“In our study, pregnant women with at least a college education were more likely to have been vaccinated for COVID-19 in the past versus pregnant women without a college education,” concluded the authors.¹ “In a multi-country study examining attitudes among pregnant women, women with no formal education were less willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in Kenya. Communicating the benefits of maternal vaccination while also allaying vaccine concerns will help nudge women toward maternal vaccine acceptance.”

READ MORE: COVID-19 Resource Center

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REFERENCES

1. Schue JL, Okwaro F, Gichere I, et al. COVID-19 vaccine attitudes and behaviors among pregnant women in Nairobi, Kenya with diverse socio-economic and educational backgrounds. Vaccine. Published online July 12, 2025:127480. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2025.127480

2. Understand how COVID-19 might affect your pregnancy. Mayo Clinic. September 7, 2024. Accessed July 31, 2025. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/pregnancy-and-covid-19/art-20482639

3. COVID-19 vaccination for people who are pregnant or breastfeeding. CDC. September 10, 2024. Accessed July 31, 2025. https://www.cdc.gov/covid/vaccines/pregnant-or-breastfeeding.html

4. Lipkind HS, Vazquez-Benitez G, DeSilva M, et al. Receipt of COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy and preterm or small-for-gestational-age at birth — eight integrated health care organizations, United States, December 15, 2020–July 22, 2021. MMWR. 2022;71(1):26-30. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7101e1