A front-line health care worker in South Florida delivered a baby born with coronavirus antibodies three weeks after receiving her first dose of the Moderna vaccine, believed to be a first-time event in the U.S.
Dr. Paul Giblert and Dr. Chad Rudnick of Boca Raton, Fla., reported in a yet-to-be peer-reviewed study 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, CBS News reported.
“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, CBS News reported. “Thus, there is potential for protection and infection risk reduction from Sars-CoV-2 with maternal vaccination.”
Though studies had already shown that mothers previously infected with the coronavirus can pass antibodies onto the child, the revelation that the same may hold true for coronavirus vaccinations could spur pregnant women to be inoculated.
“This also is hopeful because it offers a level of protection to one of the most vulnerable populations, the newborn,” said Dr. Neeta Ogden, an internal medicine and immunologist based in Edison, N.J., CBS News reported. “If we can see this kind of safe maternal transmission of antibodies from vaccine to newborns, I think that’s really a great step in the right direction.”
