Ohio State doctors busting vaccine myths, urging pregnant women to get vaccinated

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Top medical experts at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center are dispelling rumors about the vaccine, encouraging more people to get it — specifically pregnant women.

Doctors say they are seeing more patients critically ill than they've ever seen before. The national average of pregnant women who are vaccinated is only 22%.

Common rumors about the vaccine when it comes to pregnancy are that it causes infertility, or could potentially harm a fetus. Doctors want women to know that is untrue, and there's no evidence of any kind that supports those rumors.

"I urge every woman to get the vaccine," says Dr. Nora Colburn, who specializes in infectious disease at the Wexner Medical Center. "It's the best thing you can do for yourself and your baby."

Doctors also noticed a troubling trend in central Ohio. Hospitalizations are spiking very quickly. Ten days ago, 600 patients were in the hospital with COVID-19.

Currently, there are more than 900 hospitalized, and the number is expected to keep climbing.

"As we see the cases after Labor Day and going back to school, we're averaging 6,000 cases a day," says Dr. Andrew Thomas, the chief clinical officer for the Wexner Medical Center. "There's no sign of that breaking, plateauing or coming back down."

The spike is affecting rural, suburban, and metropolitan areas of central Ohio, adding pressure on healthcare systems and staff across the state.

Doctors say essentially 100% of new cases in the state are of the delta variant right now, but scientists have their eye on a new variant called the "Mu" variant.

It was recently named a "variant of interest" by the World Health Organization.