Sister of pregnant Alberta woman who died of COVID-19 urges others to get vaccinated

Edmonton woman Jennifer Rosebluff-Thomas was about 29 weeks pregnant when she died of COVID-19, after being unvaccinated and contracting the more dangerous Delta variant.

This Thanksgiving will be a tough one for Carol Charles and her family.

The 50-year-old from Regina usually travels to her younger sister’s house in Edmonton for the holiday.

But Jennifer Rosebluff-Thomas died of COVID-19 last month. She was about 29 weeks pregnant with her ninth child. She was also unvaccinated and contracted the more dangerous Delta variant.

“When they did the emergency C-section, they explained to me that it was to help my sister get more oxygen into her lungs, and they confirmed at that same time that she wasn’t vaccinated and that it was preventable,” Charles said.

Charles said she last spoke with Rosebluff-Thomas days before the C-section when her sister told her she was dying.

“I told her that I was going to be with the kids and not to worry,” Charles said, fighting back tears.

Rosebluff-Thomas delivered a baby girl in late August. The baby survived, but the mother died a few days later, Charles said.

She said her 35-year-old sister, who was a single, stay-at-home mother, leaves another eight children between the ages of one and 19. Charles is taking care of five of the children in Regina and the other three are with their father in Alberta.