Pregnant women urged to get vaccine by Blackpool's Deputy Medical Director as 'unfounded' rumours circulate

Dr Grahame Goode's stark report came after he announced a concerning increase in the number of Covid-positive patients during today's Covid briefing.

He explained the rise in Covid-positive pregnant women being hospitalised may be due to concerns about the vaccine, including it causing infertility and/or harm to the baby.

"As you will see from data from the NHS website, it's perfectly safe for any woman over 18 who's pregnant to be vaccinated," he said.

"This is particularly important because pregnant women often have a worse form of Covid, particularly in the last three months of pregnancy.

"Therefore, it's really important for women over 18, pregnant or non-pregnant, to get vaccinated to avoid these serious complications."

Dr Goode noted 30 Covid-positive patients are being treated across the Trust - three of which are on high-dependency units.

Two deaths were also recorded in the last week, taking the total to 773.

Despite this, Dr Goode explained vaccines are the reason there has not been an "exponential rise in hospital admissions [...] that you'd expect from this high level of Covid in the community".

He added: "It is really important to carry on being careful. There's an awful lot of Covid out there."

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