Good news! Baby born with COVID-19 antibodies after pregnant mother was vaccinated

In what can be termed as a major breakthrough in the COVID-19 study, a woman in the United States gave birth to a baby with coronavirus antibodies, CBS News reported.

According to the news report, the woman from South Florida who was 36-week pregnant had received the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine three weeks before giving birth to a healthy baby.

Just after birth, antibodies were detected in the blood from the baby's umbilical cord when doctors tested it.

Two paediatricians presented this case in a pre-print article and claimed that this proves there is a potential of reducing COVID-19 infection with 'maternal vaccination'.

"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," doctors said.

The authors, Dr Paul Gilbert and Dr Chad Rudnik, said the mother was a frontline healthcare worker who had received the Moderna vaccine in January 2021. She was 36 weeks pregnant at the time.

The woman, who has now been breastfeeding the baby, received the second dose of the vaccine as per the normal 28-day vaccination protocol timeline, the doctors noted.

What are the findings and what it suggests?

The report suggests that the blood from the baby's umbilical cord was taken right after the birth and before the placenta delivery. 

Doctors are of the opinion that a baby born with the COVID-19 antibodies makes the newborns less vulnerable to the infection.

This means that if maternal vaccination leads to the presence of antibodies in a newborn, the risks and complications around COVID-19 get lowered.

Meanwhile, doctors are contemplating more research around the risk, safety, and efficacy of the coronavirus vaccines during pregnancy.

Interestingly, most other vaccines are known to transfer the antibodies from mother to baby through the placenta including the vaccine for influenza. 

Earlier several cases have come into the limelight where mothers previously infected with COVID-19 passed on their antibodies to their newborns without getting vaccinated.