A South Florida woman who received a COVID-19 vaccine delivered the first known baby with antibodies, according to a few doctors.
The woman, who is a primary care health worker, had received the first dose of Moderna’s injection when she was 36 weeks pregnant, news channel WPBF reported.
When she gave birth in Palm Beach County three weeks later in January, blood was taken from the umbilical cord.
“We tested the baby’s umbilical cord to see if the antibodies in the mother passed to the baby, which we see with other vaccines given during pregnancy,” Dr. Paul Gilbert at the news station.
The blood sample confirmed what doctors suspected: The child was born with antibodies.
“To our knowledge, this was the first in the world to report that a baby was born with antibodies after vaccination,” Gilbert said.
Gilbert and Dr. Chad Rudnick presented their findings in a new paper – which is not yet to be peer-reviewed, and explains that more research is needed to determine whether the antibodies protect the newborns.
“We urge other researchers to establish pregnancy and breastfeeding registries and also conduct efficacy and safety studies of the Covid-19 vaccines in pregnant and nursing women and their offspring,” they wrote.