Summary
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued its most urgent appeal for pregnant women to get the COVID-19 vaccine. New CDC data shows that pregnant women are twice as likely to be hospitalized due to the virus. Just 32% of women in the U.S. are currently vaccinated, and the racial disparities are stark. New CDC data show that pregnant women are twice as likely to be hospitalized if they get the coronavirus. More than 22,000 women have been hospitalized so far; 161 have died, and 22 of those deaths were in August. Since the start of the pandemic, more than 700,000 Americans have died from COVID. Amna Nawaz explores the issue with gynecologist Dr. Joia Crear-Perry.
Five Facts
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Who
is interviewed in this piece and what is her background?
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What
are the reasons it's especially important for pregnant women to avoid COVID?
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When
did the rate of pregnant women becoming hospitalized or dying of COVID increase?
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Why
are pregnant women vaccinated at lower rates than the national average?
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How
can doctors encourage more pregnant women to get vaccinated, according to Crear-Perry?
Focus Questions
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According to Dr. Crear-Perry, a lack of trust in the medical profession among some in the Black and Latino communities may be driving low vaccination rates. What do you think are some ways to increase this trust?
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What might be some other reasons pregnant women are vaccinated at lower rates than the U.S. average, and what do you think are some ways to remove those barriers?
Media literacy
: What do you think could be learned by interviewing pregnant women who are hesitant to get vaccinated in addition to a doctor or expert in the field?
For More
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Want to learn more about health care inequalities that may have led to a lack of trust in the medical community? Check out
this lesson
.
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For more on race and vaccine hesitancy, see
this lesson
.
