A South Florida woman who received her first shot of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at 36 weeks gave birth three weeks later to a healthy baby girl with COVID-19 antibodies, CBS News reported on Friday.
Doctors believe the newborn marks the first known case of a baby born with coronavirus antibodies in the US, which may offer her some protection against the virus.
Dr. Paul Giblert and Dr. Chad Rudnick presented their findings in a preprint study, meaning it has not yet been peer-reviewed. They found that the antibodies were detected at the time of delivery, after analyzing blood from the baby's umbilical cord taken immediately after birth and before placenta delivery.
"We have demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies are detectable in a newborn's cord blood sample after only a single dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine," they concluded. "Thus, there is potential for protection and infection risk reduction from Sars-CoV-2 with maternal vaccination."
The doctors stressed, however, that more research is needed to verify the safety and efficacy of the coronavirus vaccines during pregnancy.
It was already known that mothers previously infected with COVID-19 can pass antibodies on to their newborns. Additionally, the passage of antibodies from mother to baby through the placenta is well documented in other vaccines, including that for influenza, so doctors were hopeful the same newborn protection would be possible after maternal vaccination against COVID-19.
These early results may help give pregnant women more reason to consider getting the vaccine, noted CBS News.
Other recent studies, also shared in preprint and not yet peer-reviewed, support the findings, the report noted.
Massachusetts General Hospital recently studied 131 women — 84 pregnant, 31 breastfeeding and 16 non-pregnant — who all received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. They found equally strong immune responses in the pregnant and lactating women as the control group.
Another study out of Israel found antibodies in all 20 women tested who received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine, both during their third trimesters and in their newborns, also through placental transfer.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)