“Mom, I would like to get vaccinated”

“Mom, I would like to get the vaccine.”

These are the words Paige Ruiz texted her mother before she died of COVID-19.

Ruiz, 32, of Fort Worth, Texas, tested positive for the virus on July 24, less than a week before giving birth.

Her mother Robin Zinsou said she asked her daughter to talk to her doctor about the vaccine. “And she said, ‘No, mom. I’m going to wait until I have the baby,’” Zinsou told the WFAA.

Ruiz developed a cough which led to a trip to the emergency room and she ended up delivering her baby, a girl named Celeste, by emergency Cesarean section.

She has recovered enough to meet Celeste, who Zinsou described as a “happy little baby”, via a video call. However, she then developed complications from COVID-19.

“She texted me and said, ‘Mom, I would like to get the vaccine,’” Zinsou said.

Her daughter spent her last days texting friends and family asking if they knew anyone who was not vaccinated, Zinsou said.

She said: “She was texting her friends and sisters and said to them, ‘Do you know anyone who is not vaccinated? Beg them to get vaccinated. “This is Paige’s last message.”

Ruiz, who was also the mother of a 2.5-year-old girl named Joanna, died on August 15 without ever holding her newborn baby.

Her sister, Natasha Zinsou, set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to pay for funerals and other expenses.

“One of Paige’s last wishes was for everyone from all walks of life to get the covid vaccine to help prevent further tragedies,” she wrote on the page.

“Covid has hurt us all enough. Please consider getting vaccinated to protect yourself and your loved ones, and to honor my sister’s memory. The family has been contacted for comment.

Her death came just days after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urged all pregnant and breastfeeding women to be vaccinated against COVID-19, citing new safety data that did not showed no increased risk of miscarriage for those who received at least one dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine before 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The advice came as hospitals reported an increase in the number of unvaccinated pregnant women falling seriously ill with COVID-19, amid an increase in infections caused by the highly contagious Delta variant.

According to the CDC, 23.8% of pregnant women had received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine as of August 14.

In recent weeks, the families of several unvaccinated women who died after giving birth have spoken out.

Grayzie Miller, 31, from Jacksonville, Fla., Died on August 14, weeks after giving birth to her second child by emergency cesarean.

Another Florida woman, Kristen McMullen, 30, gave birth to her daughter by emergency cesarean on July 27 after being hospitalized with coronavirus-related pneumonia. She was rushed to the intensive care unit shortly after giving birth and died a few days later.

Last week, the family of an unvaccinated mother and daughter who died from COVID-19 one day apart urged people to get vaccinated.

Lacresanna Williams, 21, died after delivering her baby by emergency cesarean section after testing positive during a routine pregnancy check-up. Her mother, Victoria Williams, had also contracted the virus and died a day later.