Vaccinations requirements for immigration purposes while pregnant

[AlienBob 0]

Has anyone else's fiance gone through the medical examine in Manila while being pregnant. What do they do about the required vaccines because some of them they require are not safe for pregnant women at any stage of pregnancy. And now they say this ( Completion of COVID 19 vaccination is now required prior to competing the medical exam. US visa applicants who have been given the first dose of a 2-dose regimen of COVID-19 vaccine (Sinovac, Sinopharm, Moderna, Pfizer, AstraZeneca or Gamaleya) will need to complete the 2nd dose before they can be given other required immunization to complete the medical examination. Applicants who received the Janssen vaccine can proceed with their medical examination. ) 

 

 

[Chancy 6,241]

4 hours ago, AlienBob said:

What do they do about the required vaccines because some of them they require are not safe for pregnant women at any stage of pregnancy.

 

At the immunization interview, the SLEC staff will ask your fiancee if she is pregnant.  They may even ask 2 or 3 times to be sure.  If a vaccine is not medically appropriate due to her pregnancy, your fiancee will be given a waiver.  Her vaccination record will have a note saying "Contraindicated".  She may still proceed to the interview stage, assuming she passes the rest of her medical.

 

[AlienBob 0]

Ok thanks thats good to know. I'm still worried about the covid vaccine requirement now. Because she just got a letter from the embassy yesterday saying she has an expedited interview on Oct 21. But slec says she now needs to vaccinated from covid before her medical results are released and she won't be fully vaccinated in time. It's so stressful. We been waiting 19 months for our interview and now they throw this requirement on us 😭

Edited October 1, 2021 by AlienBob

[Chancy 6,241]

1 hour ago, AlienBob said:

slec says she now needs to vaccinated from covid before her medical results are released and she won't be fully vaccinated in time.

 

I googled some more and found that COVID vaccine is NOT contraindicated for pregnant women, as per CDC guidance -- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/pregnancy.html

 

This means your fiancee will be required to be fully vaccinated for COVID before her medical results can be released.  But the COVID vaccine requirement came into effect just today, so no info yet on how SLEC will implement it.  Not sure if SLEC will provide the vaccine like they do the other required vaccines, or if they will expect the applicant to arrange for COVID vaccination herself, or if they will grant a waiver for the vaccine not being routinely available in the Philippines.

 

In any case, if your fiancee does not complete her medical before Oct 21st, her interview will need to be re-scheduled.

 

As for the other required vaccines, MMR and Varicella are contraindicated for pregnant women, so your fiancee will not be given those at SLEC -- https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pregnancy/hcp-toolkit/guidelines.html

 

[AlienBob 0]

15 hours ago, Chancy said:

 

I googled some more and found that COVID vaccine is NOT contraindicated for pregnant women, as per CDC guidance -- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/pregnancy.html

 

This means your fiancee will be required to be fully vaccinated for COVID before her medical results can be released.  But the COVID vaccine requirement came into effect just today, so no info yet on how SLEC will implement it.  Not sure if SLEC will provide the vaccine like they do the other required vaccines, or if they will expect the applicant to arrange for COVID vaccination herself, or if they will grant a waiver for the vaccine not being routinely available in the Philippines.

 

In any case, if your fiancee does not complete her medical before Oct 21st, her interview will need to be re-scheduled.

 

As for the other required vaccines, MMR and Varicella are contraindicated for pregnant women, so your fiancee will not be given those at SLEC -- https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pregnancy/hcp-toolkit/guidelines.html

 

My fiance called SLEC yesterday and they told her that alot of women who are pregnant are not vaccinated and that we will need to contact the embassy to ask them about it, since they are the ones requiring it not SLEC.

 

 The problem is the embassy never answers your calls. And the other thing is in my fiance village only the Sinovac vaccine is available but according to what I read last night from WHO (  The World Health Organization ) it says that there is not enough data on that vaccine yet to determine if its safe to give to pregnant women. They say they think its safe since its closely made like other vaccines but more data is needed.

 

So how can the US Embassy be forcing a vaccine on pregnant women to be medically cleared to enter the US if the vaccine hasnt had enough data yet.

 

I feel like she should be giving a waiver on this too and then when she comes to the US then she can get the Moderna that has been proven safe on pregnant women. Is their some email address the embassy uses that can respond in a few days because my fiance interview is on Oct 21 and their contact form page is still over a month behind on answering emails .

[Chancy 6,241]

5 hours ago, AlienBob said:

My fiance called SLEC yesterday and they told her that alot of women who are pregnant are not vaccinated and that we will need to contact the embassy to ask them about it, since they are the ones requiring it not SLEC.

 

Unfortunately, that's just the SLEC staff's way of telling you, "The US embassy required it, so stop asking me!"  Calling the embassy about it would be pointless.  Please check the link I posted above on the CDC guidance that USEM based the vaccination policy on.  Your fiancee will either have to get fully vaccinated or hope for a waiver.

 

In the meantime, I suggest doing research online (FB would be best in this case) to see if there are other LGUs or non-profit organizations that may be offering Moderna or Pfizer or Janssen near your fiancee's residence.

 

[AlienBob 0]

Thanks again for your help. I did call the cdc today and they lady was very nice but also very concerned that the US Embassy would be forcing a non proven vaccine sinovac for pregnant women since that's the only vaccine in her area just to pass her medical examination and told me I should contact my states DOH for a waiver. So I'll try that Monday. 

[jan22 3,056]

On 10/1/2021 at 7:08 PM, AlienBob said:

Thanks again for your help. I did call the cdc today and they lady was very nice but also very concerned that the US Embassy would be forcing a non proven vaccine sinovac for pregnant women since that's the only vaccine in her area just to pass her medical examination and told me I should contact my states DOH for a waiver. So I'll try that Monday. 

Assuming you mean the DOH of the US state in which you live -- they have no power to waive anything in regards to vaccinations for immigrant visas., so it makes no sense that CDC would suggest that.  I suspect it is someone who doesn't know what the actual requirements are and how they are implemented.

 

Not sure who you spoke to at CDC, but it is not the Embassy that Is requiring anything.  It is actually the CDC that sets the vaccination requirements and provides the implementing instructions to the panel physicians.  So, if CDC officially says Sinovac is not approved for pregnant women -- and there is no approved vaccine available in the country -- the panel physician will have instructions on waiving the vaccine.  The question is whether they say that other, approved, vaccInes are available in country that she should be able to get.

[AlienBob 0]

2 hours ago, jan22 said:

Assuming you mean the DOH of the US state in which you live -- they have no power to waive anything in regards to vaccinations for immigrant visas., so it makes no sense that CDC would suggest that.  I suspect it is someone who doesn't know what the actual requirements are and how they are implemented.

 

Not sure who you spoke to at CDC, but it is not the Embassy that Is requiring anything.  It is actually the CDC that sets the vaccination requirements and provides the implementing instructions to the panel physicians.  So, if CDC officially says Sinovac is not approved for pregnant women -- and there is no approved vaccine available in the country -- the panel physician will have instructions on waiving the vaccine.  The question is whether they say that other, approved, vaccInes are available in country that she should be able to get.

Your right the more I thought about it the more I realized she had no idea what she was talking about and now that I actually had time to go over the new vaccine requirement I do see its all coming from the CDC.

 

I just dont know what to do anymore because if we are able to find the moderna vaccine some where by the time she is fully vaccinated to receive her other required vaccines then that means with the way the embassy does their interviewing scheduling we would have to schedule for early Dec but by that time she will be over 35 weeks pregnant which I think the cut off limit to fly internationally .