Acute respiratory distress syndrome secondary to COVID-19 mRNA vaccine administration in a pregnant woman: A case report

Healthcare professionals monitoring vaccine-related adverse responses should be aware of COVID-19 vaccine-related acute respiratory distress syndrome to enable expeditious diagnosis and treatment. We report the first case of acute respiratory distress syndrome in a young pregnant woman, occurring immediately after a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT16B2b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine and requiring a brief period of mechanical ventilation, with a good response to a two-week steroid course. She had recovered from mild COVID-19 infection requiring home isolation nine months prior to the current vaccination dose. Without depreciating the colossal benefit of the COVID-19 vaccine, vaccine-related acute respiratory distress syndrome should be listed as a possible adverse reaction.