Mississippi health officials plea for vaccination after 'significant' number of COVID-19 fatalities in pregnant women

Mississippi health officials are urging expectant mothers to get vaccinated after a "significant" number of COVID-19 fatalities in pregnant women.

Mississippi health officials are urging expectant mothers to get vaccinated after a "significant" number of COVID-19 fatalities in pregnant women during the state's delta surge. The state health department is investigating eight reports of pregnant women who died from COVID-19 in the past four weeks, all of whom were unvaccinated, Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said at the top of a COVID-19 briefing Wednesday. "We do know that COVID is especially problematic and dangerous for pregnant women," Dobbs said. "We also know it can be deadly for the baby in the womb." Compared to the rate pre-pandemic, the health department has seen a "doubling of the rate of fetal demise, or the death of the baby in the womb after 20 weeks," Dobbs said. "It's been a real tragedy."