Omicron Brings New Risks to Unvaccinated Pregnant Women
- At least 17 pregnant women in England died from Covid May-Oct
- Exclusion from vaccine trials has sidelined expectant mothers
Photographer: Lynsey Addario/Getty Images
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The omicron variant is heightening risks for this little-talked-about demographic: pregnant women.
Left out of early vaccine trials and faced with confusing messages and misinformation on the dangers to their unborn children, a disproportionately large number of pregnant women have steered clear of Covid shots. About 75% of expectant mothers in the U.K. and about 65% in the U.S. remain unvaccinated, making them among the groups most at risk of getting infected and being exposed to severe forms of the disease as the fast-spreading omicron strain sweeps across the globe.