At 36 weeks pregnant, a South Florida front-line health worker received her first shot of the Modern COVID-19 vaccine. She gave birth three weeks later to a healthy baby girl, with COVID-19 antibodies.
Doctors believe the newborn marks the first known case of a baby born with coronavirus antibodies in the US, which may offer him some protection against the virus.
Dr. Paul Giblert and Dr. Chad Rudnick presented their results in a prepress study, i.e., it has not yet been peer-reviewed. They checked that the antibodies were detected at the time of delivery, after analyzing the blood from the baby’s umbilical cord taken immediately after delivery and before placental delivery.
“We have shown that SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies are detectable in a newborn’s uterine cord blood sample after a single dose of the Modern COVID-19 vaccine,” they concluded. “Therefore, there is potential for protection and reduction of the risk of Sars-CoV-2 infection with maternal vaccination.”
Doctors stress, however, that more research is needed verify safety and efficacy from coronavirus vaccines during pregnancy.
It was already known that mothers previously infected with COVID-19 can transmit antibodies to their babies. In addition, the passage of antibodies from mother to baby through the placenta is well documented in other vaccines, including influenza, so doctors hoped that the same protection for the newborn would be possible after maternal vaccination. against COVID-19.
“It’s really starting to align the COVID vaccine with the vaccines we already use in pregnant women like the flu vaccine,” said Dr. Neeta Ogden, an internal medicine specialist and immunologist. he told CBSN Wednesday. “We really need, and of course, we need meaningful data on the safety that pregnant women have.”
These early results may help give more reason to pregnant women consider getting the vaccine.
“This is also hopeful because it offers a level of protection to one of the most vulnerable populations, the newborn,” said Ogden, who stressed the need to study more in pregnant women during this pandemic.
Because we do not have COVID vaccines approved for children however, she said, “If we can see this kind of safe maternal transmission of vaccine antibodies to newborns, I think it’s really a big step in the right direction.”
Other recent studies, also shared in prepress and not yet peer-reviewed, support the results.
Massachusetts General Hospital has recently studied 131 women (84 pregnant, 31 infant and 16 non-pregnant) who received all Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. They found equally strong immune responses in pregnant and lactating women than the control group. In addition, there were antibodies to the placenta and breast milk from each sample taken.
“Antibodies generated by maternal vaccines were detected in the blood of the umbilical cord of the ten babies who gave birth during our study period,” co-author Dr. Andrea Edlow, a specialist in maternal medicine, told CBS News on Wednesday. -fetal at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Our data suggest that receiving both vaccines from the mRNA vaccine leads to better antibody transfer to newborns.”
Another study in Israel found antibodies in the 20 women tested who received doses of the Pfizer vaccine, both during the third trimester and in infants, also by placental transfer.
Last month, Pfizer announced that it had begun the first large-scale trial of its vaccine against pregnant women, which it expects to end in early 2023. Its vaccine was approved for emergency use in the United States in December and millions of people, including thousands of pregnant women, have already taken it.
Moderna, whose vaccine also received emergency use authorization in the United States in December, has not begun pregnancy-focused trials, but has set up a registry to track pregnant women who they receive the vaccine. Johnson & Johnson, who received emergency use authorization for his vaccine last month, said he plans to include pregnant women and their babies in their studies, as well as collect data on pregnant women through of a register.
Pregnant women were excluded from the original trials of Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 traits, a common practice in these studies.