A Texas teacher texted her own mother to say 'Mom, I wish I got vaccinated' in her final message before succumbing to COVID just two days after giving birth.
Paige Ruiz, 32, was holding off on getting the vaccine until after the baby was born. She was nine months pregnant when she tested positive for COVID.
Ruiz's mother, Robin Zinsou, told CNN: 'She thought that there wasn't enough information or data out there to say that she could confidently get vaccinated without harming the baby.
Paige Ruiz, 32, died of Covid two days after giving birth to her second child and spent her last days battling the virus and telling people to get the shot
Ruiz (pictured right with her husband Daniel and oldest daughter Joanna) was holding off on getting the vaccine until after the baby was born and was nine months pregnant when she tested positive
'And I would ask her, "Have you talked to the doctor? I would like you to get vaccinated." And she kept saying, "No, I'm going to wait until after I have the baby."
'She was worried it would harm the baby.'
Ruiz was hospitalized with severe symptoms after testing positive and doctors performed an emergency C-section to save her and her daughter.
She gave birth to a girl - Celeste. Ruiz and her husband, Daniel, have another daughter, Joanna.
'As soon as Celeste was delivered they whisked her away, and when my daughter came-to they said that they had to keep each other separated because of the COVID,' Zinsou told CNN.
Ruiz's mother, Robin Zinsou (pictured), told CNN : 'She thought that there wasn't enough information or data out there to say that she could confidently get vaccinated without harming the baby'
Ruiz died on August 15 and her final message before dying was 'Mom, I wish I got vaccinated'
Ruiz was a coordinator of Student Learning Outcomes and Federal Programs at the Joshua Independent School District in Texas and had been the middle school assistant principal four years before that
'Celeste was discharged from the hospital a couple days later and we figured out a way to do video chat so that Paige could see the baby,' she added.
Within the next few days Ruiz's health quickly declined. 'It wasn't until after she had the baby that she started to get worse,' Zinsou said.
'It was my worst fear,' she added.
Ruiz died on August 15 and her final message before dying was 'Mom, I wish I got vaccinated,' as reported by CNN.
Zinsou said: 'She said that she wished she had gotten the vaccine, she texted that to me.
'I didn't find out until after she passed that she was texting that same message to her sister and to her friends. And she wanted people to get vaccinated.'
Zinsou's message for others: 'Mask up. Get vaccinated, so this doesn't happen to your family.'
Ruiz's two daughters are 'healthy and doing well'.
Their late mother was a coordinator of Student Learning Outcomes and Federal Programs at the Joshua Independent School District in Texas. She had been the middle school assistant principal there for four years before that.
A statement from the school district read: 'Her dedication and passion to educating students will always be remembered, along with her kindness to others.
Ruiz's tragic death comes as COVID cases and deaths continue to surge across the country as the Delta variant brings on a raging fourth wave of the pandemic.
On Tuesday, the US recorded 135,245 cases of Covid-19 with a seven-day rolling average of 151,005 - a 145 per cent increase from the 61,451 average reported four weeks ago, and the highest figure seen since January.
Last week cases had grown by 207 per cent in one month and the week prior, the increase 393 per cent.
Deaths are also on the rise with 1,405 virus-related fatalities recorded on Tuesday and a seven-day rolling average of 1,043 - the fourth day in a row the average has surpassed four figures.
This marks a 320 per cent increase from the average of 248 reported 28 days prior and the highest number reported since March 22.
Meanwhile hospitals are facing surges of patients with more than three-quarters of all intensive care unit beds (ICU) in use, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
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