First Baby In The US Born With COVID-19 Antibodies After 'Maternal Vaccination'

A South Florida woman, who had received a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine while pregnant, recently gave birth to the first baby ever born with antibodies against the virus "after maternal vaccination," reported CBS News.

The woman's two pediatricians, Dr. Paul Giblert and Dr. Chad Rudnick, have claimed that three weeks after getting her first shot, the mom, who is also a healthcare worker and 36-weeks pregnant at the time, developed COVID-19 antibodies.

The doctors presented these first-of-the-kind findings in a research article that is yet to be peer-reviewed. However, Gilbert and Rudnick told the outlet that their article had been accepted for publication, and they were waiting for it to be posted officially on the journal’s site.

The antibodies were discovered after the doctors tested blood samples from the "vigorous, healthy" baby girl's umbilical cord, cut just after birth, and before placenta delivery. “To our knowledge, this was the first in the world that was reported of a baby being born with antibodies after a vaccination,” Gilbert told the West Palm Beach ABC affiliate.

"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," the doctors said as per CBS News. "Thus, there is potential for protection and infection risk reduction from Sars-CoV-2 with maternal vaccination."

Despite the positive results, Gilbert and Rudnick emphasize that more research is needed to verify the safety and efficacy of coronavirus vaccines during pregnancy.

Moderna, whose vaccine was approved for emergency use in the United States in December, has not yet launched pregnancy testing, but it has established a registry to monitor pregnant women who receive the vaccine.

Pregnant women were not included to participate in the initial trials of Moderna and Pfizer's COVID-19 shots, as is normal procedure in such tests.

Nonetheless, scientists are still learning more about vaccine's effects on pregnant mothers. Another recent research, which has also been shared in preprint form and not yet been peer-reviewed, actually backs up the finding.

131 women — 84 pregnant, 31 breastfeeding, and 16 non-pregnant — were studied at Massachusetts General Hospital after receiving the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. They discovered that pregnant and lactating women have similar immune responses to the control group. Antibodies were also used in any sample taken, including the placenta and breastmilk.

In another study by Israeli researchers, antibodies were found in 20 women who were administered doses of the Pfizer vaccine during their third trimesters and in their newborns, even by the placental transition.