Last week, the CDC put out a call urging expecting women to get vaccinated against COVID-19, as hospitals in hot spots around the U.S. see disturbing numbers of unvaccinated pregnant women seriously ill with the virus.
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According to the CDC, only 23% of pregnant women have gotten a COVID shot as of July 31, even though pregnant women are more vulnerable to severe COVID infections.
In the largest study of its kind, a team of University of California-San Francisco researchers showed that pregnant women infected with COVID are 40% more likely to have a premature baby. And for very premature births, fewer than 32 weeks, the risk increased to 60%.
The call to get them vaccinated came after an analysis on new safety data of 2,500 women showed no increased risks of miscarriage for those who received at least one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine before 20 weeks of pregnancy.
In general, as of Aug. 23, the CDC reported that 201.7 million people have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Of those, 171.1 million, or over half, are fully vaccinated.
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The video above is from a previous story.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.