The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States on Wednesday urged all pregnant women to get the COVID-19 vaccine, as the rapidly escalating surge in coronavirus infections across the country is once again overwhelming hospitals.
Expectant women run a higher risk of severe illness and pregnancy complications from the coronavirus, including miscarriages and stillbirths. But their vaccination rates are low, with only about 23 percent having received at least one dose, according to CDC data.
"It has never been more urgent to increase vaccinations as we face the highly transmissible Delta variant and see severe outcomes from COVID-19 among unvaccinated pregnant people," said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky in a statement.
The CDC's advice echoes recent recommendations from top obstetrician groups. The agency had previously encouraged pregnant women to consider vaccination, but had stopped short of a full recommendation. The new advice also applies to nursing mothers and women planning to get pregnant.
Experts said real-world experience from tens of thousands of women shows that the shots are safe for them and may offer some protection to newborns when given during pregnancy. However, pregnant women were not included in studies that led to the authorization of COVID-19 vaccines.
The new guidance came amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the US, driven by the Delta variant.
The US is now averaging more than 100,000 new COVID-19 cases a day, the highest since February. The CDC is projecting that an estimated total of 630,000 to 662,000 COVID-19 deaths will be reported by early September in the country.
More than a dozen large US corporations have recently announced vaccine mandates for their employees. California has become the first state in the country to require all teachers and school staff to get vaccinated, or receive weekly testing.
The situation outside the US is also not optimistic. Australia's capital Canberra was ordered into a seven-day lockdown starting from Thursday, after a COVID-19 case was detected in the city and the virus was found in wastewater.
Canberra joins Sydney, Melbourne and several cities in the New South Wales state that are in lockdown due to the Delta variant.
In its weekly update on the pandemic released on Wednesday, the World Health Organization said 142 countries and regions have reported cases of the Delta variant.
