CDC now says it does NOT yet recommend pregnant women get COVID-19 vaccines despite its director said the agency endorses the shots for expectant mothers

 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now say that pregnant women should simply 'consider' the risks and benefits of COVID-19 vaccination - walking back its own director's recommendation that expectant mothers get the shot. 

'CDC recommends that pregnant people receive the COVID-19 vaccine,' director Dr Rochelle Walensky said in a Friday White House press briefing. 

She cited a CDC analysis of data on more than 35,000 women who have been vaccinated with either Pfizer's or Moderna's shots that found no increase in risks of complications, premature delivery, miscarriage or other issues among women who got the vaccines. 

But the guidance for pregnant women posted to the CDC's website never changed. It still says that 'any of the currently authorized COVID-19 vaccines can be offered to people who are pregnant or breastfeeding. 

'If facing decisions about whether to receive a COVID-19 vaccine while pregnant, people should consider risk of exposure to COVID-19, the increased risk of severe infection while pregnant, the known benefits of vaccination, and the limited but growing evidence about the safety of COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy,' a CDC spokesperson told CBS News. 

It falls considerably short of Dr Walensky's blunt Friday endorsement of COVID-19 vaccination for pregnant women.   

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The CDC has walked back its director, Dr Rochelle Walensky's comments on Friday that the agency now recommends pregnant women get vaccinated against COVID-19. In instead advises they be offered the shot, but advised of the benefits, risks and unknowns of vaccination. Early data on 35,000  women vaccinated with Moderna's or Pfizer's vaccines showed they did not face higher risks of miscarriage, complications or stillbirths 

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'CDC recommends that pregnant people receive the COVID-19 vaccine,' director Dr Rochelle Walensky said in a Friday White House press briefing. The CDC has walked back her statement

Pregnant women are considered eligible for vaccines, according to the CDC. 

But the has reserved judgement on whether or not pregnant women should get COVID-19 vaccines, saying instead that they 'may' choose to get the shot. 

Pregnant women were not included in trials for any of the three authorized vaccines in the U.S.  

That's par for the course of vaccine trials, which exclude pregnant women to avoid risking their safety or that of their developing fetuses. 

However, a number of women became pregnant over the course of the three trials (also a common phenomenon), and there were no signs of unusual risks to them or their babies. 

Still, that wasn't enough evidence to say definitively whether the shot was safe or not.

But over the past nearly five months of the rollout, tens of thousands of pregnant women have opted to get vaccinated against COVID-19. 

The CDC's study of 35,000 women who got vaccinated with either Pfizer's or Moderna's shots - Johnson's & Johnson's had not been approved at the time of the research - found no higher rates of complications, miscarriages, birth defects, or preterm births among women who had been vaccinated compared to those who hadn't.  

'As such, CDC recommends that pregnant people receive the COVID-19 vaccine,' Dr Walensky said during the Friday White House press briefing. 

'We know that this is a deeply personal decision, and I encourage people to talk to their doctors, or primary care providers to determine what is best for them and for their baby.' 

The CDC's guidelines comport with the second part of Dr Walensky's statement, but not the first. 

While women should be offered the shot, they should be encouraged to consult with a health care provider, understand the benefits, risk and unknowns of vaccination during pregnancy and be made aware that the CDC has not fully endorsed vaccination for them - yet. 

So far, all signs suggest that vaccines are safe and effective - at protecting the expectant mother and, in many cases, her baby - but the CDC still doesn't consider the current data to be enough to sign off. 

It is unclear why Dr Walensky said the vaccine was recommended - whether she was mistaken, or perhaps just spoke to soon - and the CDC did not immediately respond to request for comment from DailyMail.com.