Vaccinated pregnant women pass high level of antibodies to babies: Study

September 23, 2021 16:14

Women who receive the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy pass high levels of antibodies to their babies, according to a study.

The effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines lies in their ability to trigger the production of the right antibodies, blood proteins capable of protecting individuals from infection, researchers said. Whether this protection could pass from mothers to their infants before birth had remained a question, they said.

The study, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology Maternal-Fetal Medicine on Wednesday, was conducted on 36 newborns whose mothers received either the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy.

The research team led by NYU Grossman School of Medicine in the US found that 100 per cent of the infants had protective antibodies at birth. Antibodies can either be produced as part of the natural response to infection or triggered by vaccines.

Though the sample size is small, "it is encouraging that neonatal antibody levels are high if women are vaccinated," said Jennifer L Lighter, an associate professor at Hassenfeld Children's Hospital at NYU Langone, and the study's senior author.

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