The head of the Australia's medical research council has pleaded with pregnant women to go out and get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Pregnant women were made a priority in the vaccine rollout in July, after global research found mRNA vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna were safe and effective for women at all stages of their pregnancy.

But, despite being officially eligible, many women found it difficult to access Pfizer — which was the only mRNA vaccine available at the time — because of supply issues and confusion among some GPs who were unaware the advice had changed.

Today, chair of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Professor Caroline Homer renewed the call for pregnant women to make sure they were fully vaccinated.

"While we have fantastic vaccination rates in many groups, pregnant women — and I'm a midwife so this is an area very close to my heart — are not getting vaccinated as the numbers that we would like to see," she said.

"We have pregnant women in hospital in Victoria and in New South Wales [with COVID], and some of them are very sick and we know that if you get vaccinated when you're pregnant you will not get sick from COVID if you catch the infection.

"So to all the pregnant women out there please go and get vaccinated, it's absolutely critical not only for you but also for your baby and your family."

The official advice from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is that fully vaccinated women who are breastfeeding may also provide protection through antibodies in their breast milk.

Moderna booster application on the way

Professor Homer was speaking at a government announcement of $239 million in funding for research into new innovative health and medical research projects, including into cancer treatment, endometriosis and coeliac disease.

Speaking at the same event, Health Minister Greg Hunt confirmed the government was expecting an application from Moderna to have its boosters approved in Australia.

The government recently announced a population-wide booster program for all adults six months after they receive their second vaccine dose.

Currently, the only vaccine approved for use as a booster is Pfizer.

"[Moderna] is due to make an application in the coming weeks.

They indicated to us late last week that they are preparing to submit so we're very excited and looking forward to the final materials being fully in place.

"The TGA will work through that and when they're ready, when they've done the assessment and … presumingthey find it to be safe and effective it'll be added to the list of boosters."

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