Manager of St Luke’s Hospital for Carlow/Kilkenny says two-thirds of mothers attending have not been vaccinated

The call is going out again for pregnant women in Carlow and Kilkenny to get their Covid-19 vaccine.

The General manager of St Luke’s Hospital says only a third of pregnant mothers have taken up their jabs.

Anne Slattery says most of the 13 people being treated for the virus locally have not had their jabs yet and there are 3 in ICU.

The hospital’s Clinical Director Prof Gary Courtney originally made the call on earlier this week after a couple of mothers and young children tested positive for the virus.

Anne Slattery says it really important that pregnant women take the vaccine when they are advised to:

“The numbers of pregnant women who are vaccinated is not as high as the general population. And from our own counting of the numbers here in the hospital, it’s roughly about a third of mothers that come in are vaccinated and the remaining two-thirds are not yet.

“But we would be strongly encouraging women – particularly after they deliver – that they would get vaccinated, and again it’s to protect both themselves and their child and everybody in the home.”

Continuing, she told Friday evening’s The Way It Is that pregnant women can be hit harder than others by the virus if they don’t get vaccinated:

“The advice is, even when you’re pregnant, that people should get their vaccinated. Again, with Covid-19, it’s not a nice disease to get and it seems to be hitting pregnant women a bit more than what was expected.

“As we’re aware nationally, some of these women have indeed ended up in a critical care unit and nobody wants that.

“The vaccines are very well tested.”