Background: Hyperglycemia and possible accelerated onset of de novo diabetes have been reported following COVID-19 vaccination in nonpregnant adults. The objective of this study was to examine the risk of GDM after COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy.

Methods: Using data from 8 integrated health care systems participating in the Vaccine Safety Datalink, we performed a retrospective analysis among 42,140 pregnancies resulting in livebirth from 1/27/21 -1/25/22. Diagnosis of GDM was defined as two outpatient or one inpatient ICD-10 codes for GDM at or beyond 22 weeks’ gestation. GDM diagnoses were compared between individuals who received one or two COVID-19 vaccine doses prior to 22 weeks’ gestation and those who did not receive a COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy. We used generalized estimating equations with robust variance and inverse probability weighting to estimate the adjusted relative risk (aRR) and 95% Confidence Interval (CI) of GDM, accounting for baseline differences between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.

Results: Of the 42,140 pregnancies, 38% identified as Hispanic, 33% non-Hispanic White, 15.6% non-Hispanic Asian, 8.8% non-Hispanic Black, and 4.4% other or unknown; 25.6% received one or more COVID-19 vaccine doses prior to 22 weeks’ gestation. Individuals who were vaccinated were older (mean age 32.0 ± 4.6 vs 29.5 ± 5.3 years) and more likely to be of non-Hispanic White (37.4% vs 31.7%) or Asian background (25.7% vs 12.1%) than those who were unvaccinated. The rate of GDM was 11.9 per 100 among those who received a COVID-19 vaccine and 10.6 per 100 among those who did not. There was no increased risk of GDM diagnosis associated with receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy, aRR 1.00 (95% CI 0.90-1.10).

Conclusion: Data from this large cohort did not identify an increased risk of GDM associated with receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine prior to 22 weeks’ gestation. These results further support emerging evidence regarding the safety of COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy.

Disclosure

K.K.Vesco: Research Support; Pfizer Inc. L.Jackson: None. J.Williams: None. T.G.Boyce: None. C.Fuller: Research Support; Pfizer Inc., Johnson & Johnson. G.Vazquez benitez: Research Support; AbbVie Inc., Sanofi. A.Denoble: None. H.S.Lipkind: Other Relationship; Pfizer Inc., Research Support; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, National Institutes of Health. E.Kharbanda: None. M.B.Desilva: None. M.F.Daley: None. D.Getahun: None. O.Zerbo: None. A.Naleway: None.

Funding

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (200-2012-53526)

Readers may use this article as long as the work is properly cited, the use is educational and not for profit, and the work is not altered. More information is available at http://www.diabetesjournals.org/content/license.