The CDC is urging pregnant women to get vaccinated, saying it has 'never been more urgent'

• The CDC said all pregnant people should be vaccinated as the Delta variant spreads.
• Pregnant people have low vaccine uptake rates, but a higher risk of complications from COVID-19.
• New evidence shows no safety risks among vaccinated pregnant people. Clinical trials are ongoing.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that all pregnant women get vaccinated against COVID-19.

''The vaccines are safe and effective, and 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," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a statement Wednesday.

Pregnant people are at greatest risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19, but have been especially reluctant to get the shot. Meanwhile, cases of COVID-19 are rising across the country as the highly transmissible Delta variant spreads - largely among the unvaccinated. That, the CDC says, makes "vaccination for this population more urgent than ever."

Before now, official guidance on COVID-19 vaccination for pregnant women has largely left the decision up to them due to limited research, putting patients and clinicians in a difficult position.

Pregnant women weren't included in the first clinical trials, but there is plenty of data now

Early on, clinicians trusted that the shots are safe in pregnancy, but didn't have the rigorous clinical trial evidence to support it.

Since then, more evidence has come out in support of the vaccine during pregnancy. Data from three safety monitoring systems didn't find safety concerns for vaccinated pregnant people or their babies.

Most recently, the CDC revealed a new analysis finding no increased risk of miscarriage among nearly 2,500 pregnant women who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine before 20 weeks of pregnancy. About 13% of recipients experienced miscarriage, which is in line with the rate in the general population.

Leading OBGYN organizations were already recommending vaccination during pregnancy

On July 30, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine also advised providers to "enthusiasticually recommend vaccination" to pregnant people.

"It is clear that pregnant people need to feel confident in the decision to choose vaccination, and a strong recommendation from their obstetrician-gynecologist could make a meaningful difference for many pregnant people," their joint statement says.

Before then, they, like the CDC, maintained that it's up to pregnant women and their providers to decide whether or not to get vaccinated. That was a difficult decision for many patients and providers: In April, pediatrician and neonatologist Dr. Jessica Madden, for one, told Insider that while she was increasingly comfortable recommending the vaccine, she wouldn't want moms-to-be who are overly anxious about it to feel pressured into the decision.

At one point, even the World Health Organization went as far as to recommend against the vaccine in pregnancy unless, for people like healthcare workers, the benefits outweighed the risk.

ACOG and SMFM said their latest guidance reflects "evidence demonstrating the safe use of the COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy from tens of thousands of reporting individuals over the last several months, as well as the current low vaccination rates and concerning increase in cases."

Ignore false myths about the vaccine and pregnancy, experts say

There is no risk of getting COVID-19 from the coronavirus vaccines, since they do not contain any live virus.

The vaccine also acts locally, meaning it won't "enter into cells' nucleus, thus it has no effect on DNA," Dr. Jessica Madden, a pediatrician and neonatologist who serves as medical director of Aeroflow Breastpumps, previously told Insider.

False rumors that the shot could impact fertility have also been thoroughly debunked.

Evidence shows vaccines are safer for pregnant people than COVID-19

Getting the shot is decidedly less risky than getting COVID-19: If infected, pregnant people have a higher risk of intensive-care unit admission, ventilation, life support, and death than patients who aren't pregnant, though the overall risk is still low, a November report from the CDC found. They're also more likely to deliver prematurely.

Pregnant women of color are particularly at risk for contracting the disease and experiencing related complications.

"We do have science that clearly indicates that vaccination does decrease disease process, disease progression, and death," OB-GYN Dr. Jessica Shepherd told ABC in March. "Risk vs. benefit, in the end at this point, is transmission and death vs. protection."