The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is being trolled over its new announcement urging ‘pregnant people’ to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
The organization issued an ‘urgent health advisory’ on Wednesday, saying that they ‘strongly recommend vaccination for those pregnant, recently pregnant or trying to become pregnant’.
On Twitter, the CDC also released a graphic which included a caption which read: ‘Pregnant people with symptomatic COVID-19 have a 70% increased risk of death’.
The tweet was promptly criticized by dozens of people furious over the fact that the CDC used the phrase ‘pregnant people’ instead of ‘pregnant women’.
‘Not interested in medical advice from people who can’t figure out which gender can actually get pregnant,’ one critic blasted.
Another scathingly wrote: ‘This tweet demonstrates one reason why so many people don’t respect CDC recommendations. When you use the phrase ‘pregnant people’ (suggesting men can be pregnant) you undermine your own credibility and cause thinking people to disregard your so called ‘science.’ Do better.’
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) is being trolled over its new announcement urging ‘pregnant people’ to get vaccinated against COVID-19
Dozens of angry Twitter users responded to the CDC’s ‘woke’ announcement
A third person similarly stated: ‘Only women are able to get pregnant. Saying ‘pregnant people’ is unscientific. It might be why many aren’t listening.’
Meanwhile, another angry Twitter user claimed the CDC was ‘dehumanizing’ women by failing to acknowledge them in their new advisory.
Another summed up: ‘A woke organization peddling the woke agenda to control every aspect of our lives’.
The CDC has not responded to the backlash.
The advisory comes after new data revealed just under under one-third of pregnant women have been vaccinated, figures from the CDC show.
‘Pregnancy can be both a special time and also a stressful time – and pregnancy during a pandemic is an added concern for families,’ CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky said in a statement alongside the health advisory.
‘I strongly encourage those who are pregnant or considering pregnancy to talk with their healthcare provider about the protective benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine to keep their babies and themselves safe.’
The CDC issued an advisory on Wednesday recommending ‘urgent cation’ to increase vaccination rates among pregnant women. Pictured: Michelle Melton gets the Pfizer vaccine at 35 weeks pregnantat Skippack Pharmacy in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, February 2021
Just 31% of all mothers-to-be (dark blue line) have been vaccinated with the highest rate among Asian women at 45.7% (pink line) and the lowest rate among black women at 15.6% (orange line)
As of Wednesday, more than 125,000 pregnant women have contracted COVID-19, according to the CDC.
Of those women, more than 22,000 have been hospitalized and 161 died – 22 of those deaths occurred in the month of August alone.
‘Cases of COVID-19 in symptomatic, pregnant people have a two-fold risk of admission into intensive care and a 70 percent increased risk of death,’ the CDC wrote in its health advisory.
Several studies have found that expecting mothers are at increased risk of contracting COVID-19 compared to the general population.
And, once they do fall ill with the virus, they are more likely to develop severe cases or die from it.
One study from the University of Washington in Seattle found pregnant women infected with Covid were 3.5 times more likely to be hospitalized with complications and nearly 14 times more likely to die than younger Americans.
Expectant mothers who have COVID-19 also more likely to experience complications with their pregnancies.
A study from the University of Oxford in the UK, found mothers-to-be had a 76 percent higher risk of developing preeclampsia – a pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure – and were 59 percent more likely to give birth prematurely.
Despite these risks, just 31 percent of pregnant people were fully vaccinated before or during their pregnancies, CDC figures show.
There are disparities between races/ethnicities with Asian mothers-to-be having the highest vaccination rate at 45.7 percent.
Hispanic pregnant women have lower rates at 25 percent and the lowest rate is among black women at 15.6 percent.
Many pregnant women have been hesitant to get vaccinated due to misinformation that Covid vaccines are linked to infertility.
However, COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to be safe and effective in expectant mothers – or women looking to become pregnant – and don’t raise the risk of miscarriage.
In fact, an Israeli study found that pregnant women vaccinated with Pfizer’s shot were nearly five times less likely to be infected than unvaccinated pregnant women.
Studies have shown pregnant women have a two-fold risk of being admitted to ICUs and a 70% increased risk of death