But health officials in the Magnolia State have been especially vocal about it.

Eight pregnant women died of Covid-19 in Mississippi since July 25, bringing the state's pandemic total to 15, Dobbs said Thursday.

The 15 ranged in age from 23 to 40, none was fully vaccinated, and only one was partially vaccinated, Dobbs said.

At least 12 of the fetuses survived, often through emergency C-section, and some were severely premature, said Dr.

In response, the health department last week issued a standing order to vaccinate pregnant patients, he said.

The order gives the pharmacies reassurance "that it's OK and recommended for pregnant to get immunized at any stage in pregnancy," Dobbs said.

Mississippi still lags the country as a whole in vaccination: 41.7% of the state's population was fully vaccinated as of Thursday, whereas 54.2% of the US population was, according to the CDC.

Only about 25.1% of pregnant women age 18 to 49 in the US had received at least one dose of a vaccine during pregnancy as of September 11, according to the CDC.

The CDC's Pauley said vaccination for pregnant women is "more urgent than ever," because of "the increased circulation of the highly contagious Delta variant, the low vaccine uptake among pregnant people, and the increased risk of severe illness and pregnancy complications related to Covid-19 infection among pregnant people."

CDC recommends Covid-19 vaccines for pregnant women

As health officials push for pregnant women to get Covid-19 vaccines, they remind them that groups including the CDC last month strengthened the Covid-19 vaccine recommendation for pregnant women.

The CDC now outright says that they should get the shots, based on the latest safety data.

These data suggest that the benefits of receiving a Covid-19 vaccine outweigh any known or potential risks of vaccination during pregnancy," the CDC adds in the updated guidance.

In late July, the ACOG and another leading organization that represents obstetricians and gynecologists also recommended that anyone who is pregnant should be vaccinated against Covid-19.

The ACOG and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine said their recommendations were based on safety evidence from thousands of pregnant women.

Studies show vaccine is safe and effective in pregnant women

The CDC said in August that a new analysis of information from its V-SAFE database, used to track vaccine side effects and safety, found no increased risk for miscarriage among people who received either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna coronavirus vaccines before 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Too few pregnant women got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to be able to assess the risk, they said.

In Israel, a separate study published this month showed Covid-19 vaccines are just as effective in protecting pregnant women as anyone else.

Israeli researchers' study of thousands of pregnant women showed those who were fully vaccinated with Pfizer's vaccine from December 20 to June 3 were 97% protected against symptomatic infection, similar to the rate for the general population at the time, they reported in the journal Nature Medicine.