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COVID-19 is especially dangerous in pregnant people because their immune systems are already less active in order to support their growing fetus and their hearts and kidneys are already working harder during pregnancy to support the fetus, according to Vricella.

Pregnant people must also keep their oxygen levels higher in general to support their fetus, which can be a herculean task to do when COVID-19 is in the body, according to Vricella.

And in addition to pregnant people with COVID-19 being more likely to deliver prematurely, Vricella said her hospital is also seeing more COVID-positive pregnant patients deliver stillbirths, even with mild COVID cases.

\"COVID-19 begins as a respiratory illness but can affect the entire body and also seems to increase the risk of thrombosis or blood clots,\" she said. \"We suspect that this decreased oxygen to the fetus may be responsible for the stillbirths that we are seeing, though we need further research.\"

Just as doctors are learning more about the complications of COVID-19 in pregnant women, they are also seeing more data about the safety of the vaccines, according to Vricella.

\"The risks of COVID are much, much greater than the theoretical risks of the vaccine,\" she said. \"The overwhelming evidence indicates that the vaccine is safe.\"

When the CDC strengthened its recommendation for COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy this month, it did so citing new evidence of safety with the vaccines, a point that Kelly also stressed.

\"I tell my patients that at this point, the [COVID-19] vaccine is one of the most studied medications, or interventions, during pregnancy,\" said Kelly, noting that over 140,000 pregnant people have been vaccinated and doctors now have nearly nine months of data pointing to the vaccine's success. \"During pregnancy, we’re pretty excited when we see a study come out with a couple thousand women enrolled in it, and now we’re talking so many more numbers than we typically see for any other type of research in pregnancy.\"

Video: What the FDA’s approval of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine means

Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines also use mRNA technology, which doesn't enter the nucleus of the cells and doesn't alter human DNA. The two COVID-19 vaccines are the first mRNA vaccines, which are theoretically safe during pregnancy, because they do not contain a live virus.

\"It's never too late and it's never too early,\" Vricella said of when pregnant women should get vaccinated. \"I think the fall could be a really terrifying time for pregnant people if we don’t increase their vaccination rates quickly.\"

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