Vaccinated pregnant women tend to pass antibodies to their babies, reveals study

WION Web Team

NEW DELHIUpdated: Sep 23, 2021, 12:48 PM IST

The Sheba medical centre in Israel published a preliminary study on Monday that found that the fourth shot increases antibodies even higher than the third, although not to the point where it can completely protect against the highly transmissible Omicron variant. Photograph:(AFP)

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As a part of the study, 36 newborns were tested at birth and had antibodies against COVID-19 after their mothers were vaccinated by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna doses

A study has revealed that pregnant women who have been vaccinated with mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna shots pass high levels of antibodies to their babies.

As a part of the study, 36 newborns were tested at birth and had antibodies against COVID-19 after their mothers were vaccinated by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna doses.

The antibody levels were measured in the umbilical cord blood of the women while they were pregnant.

This was done to differentiate if the presence was from past infection or vaccines.

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Ashley Roman, an obstetrician at NYU Langone Health System and co-author of the study, was quoted by the Bloomberg as saying, "We didn't anticipate that. We expected to see more variability."

We pushed this data out relatively early because it's a unique finding and it has important implications for care," Roman said. "Right now we're recommending all pregnant women receive the vaccine for maternal benefit."

With the study, more and more women could be encouraged to get vaccinated. As per data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from September 11, only 30 per cent of pregnant women ages 18 to 49 are vaccinated.

This comes despite growing evidence of prenatal vaccine safety.

Given the study's small sample size, the team is now looking at results from a larger group, as well as how long immunisation lasts for infants after birth.