When she was 36 weeks pregnant, a primary care health worker in South Florida received her first image of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccineShe gave birth to a healthy girl three weeks later – with COVID-19 antibodies.
Doctors believe the newborn is the first known case of a baby born with antibodies against the coronavirus 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 there hasn’t been a peer review yet. They found that the antibodies were detected at the time of delivery, after analysis of blood from the baby’s umbilical cord taken from the placenta immediately after birth and before delivery.
“We have shown that SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies are detectable in the umbilical cord blood sample of a newborn after just a single dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine,” they concluded. “Thus, there is potential for protection and reduction of the risk of infection by Sars-CoV-2 with maternal vaccination.”
However, the doctors stress that more research is needed verify safety and efficacy of the coronavirus vaccines during pregnancy
It was already known that mothers previously infected with COVID-19 can pass antibodies to their newborns. In addition, the passage of mother-to-baby antibodies across the placenta is well documented in other vaccines, including those for influenza, so doctors hoped that the same protection of newborns would be possible after maternal vaccination against COVID-19.
“It’s really starting to align the COVID vaccine with the ones we’re already using on pregnant women, like the flu vaccine,” says Dr. Neeta Ogden, internal medicine specialist and immunologist. told CBSN on Wednesday. “We need really important data, and it is clear that we need it, on how safe it is in pregnant women.”
These early results can give pregnant women more reason consider getting the vaccine
“This is also encouraging because it provides a level of protection to one of the most vulnerable populations, the newborn,” said Ogden, stressing the need to continue studying in pregnant women during this pandemic.
Because we have not approved COVID vaccines for children yet she said, “If we can see this kind of safe maternal transfer of antibodies from the vaccine to newborns, I think that’s a really big step in the right direction.”
Other recent studies, also shared in preprint and not yet peer-reviewed, support the findings.
Massachusetts General Hospital recently studied 131 women – 84 pregnant, 31 breastfeeding, and 16 non-pregnant – all of whom received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. They found equally strong immune responses in the pregnant and lactating women as the control group. In addition, antibodies were present in the placenta and breast milk of each sample taken.
“Maternal vaccine-generated antibodies were detected in the umbilical cord blood of all 10 babies who gave birth during our study period,” said study co-author Dr. Andrea Edlow, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, told CBS News Wednesday. “Our data suggests that receiving both shots of the mRNA vaccine results in improved antibody transmission to neonates.”
Another study from Israel found antibodies in all 20 women tested who received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine, both during their third trimester and in their newborns, also via placental transfer.
Last month, Pfizer announced it had begun the first large-scale trial of its vaccine on pregnant women, expected to be completed in early 2023. The vaccine was approved for emergency use in the US in December, and millions of people, including thousands of pregnant women, have already taken it.
Moderna, whose vaccine was also approved for emergency use in the US in December, has not started trials targeting pregnancy, but has set up a registry to track pregnant women who receive the vaccine. Johnson & Johnson, which received an emergency permit for its vaccine last month, said it plans to include pregnant women and their babies in its studies and to collect data on pregnant women through a registry.
Pregnant women were excluded from the original studies with the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 recordings, a common practice in such studies.