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Updated March 18th, 2021 at 11:25 IST

COVID-19: US woman gives birth to world's first-ever baby with coronavirus antibodies

A woman in S. Florida who received one dose of the coronavirus vaccine when she was pregnant has now given birth to the first ever baby with COVID-19 antibodies

Reported by: Akanksha Arora
COVID-19
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A woman in South Florida who received one dose of the coronavirus vaccine when she was pregnant has now given birth to the first ever baby to be born with the COVID-19 antibodies. According to the reports by Fox News, the mother, who is a front-line-worker, was 36-weeks pregnant when she was administered the first dose of the Moderna vaccine. After the baby was born in January, a blood sample was taken to see if the antibodies in the mother passed to the baby. 

As per the reports by Fox News, paediatrician Chad Rudnick said that this is just one small case in the thousands of cases where babies will be born from mothers who have been vaccinated. Keeping in mind the 28-day timeline, the woman received her second dose during the post-partum period. The researchers, in a yet to be peer-reviewed paper, wrote that the maternal vaccination for Influenza and TDaP have been well studied in terms of safety and efficacy. Similarly, newborn protection would be expected after maternal vaccination against SARS-CoV-2.

“There is a significant and urgent need for research regarding safety and efficacy of vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy. Here, we report the first known case of an infant with SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies detectable in cord blood after maternal vaccination,” read abstract of the paper.

Blood samples analysed 

After the blood sample was taken, the serum was sent for the SARS-CoV-2 antibody test to the S-protein as performed by Labcorp. It was then concluded that cord blood antibodies (IgG) were detected to SARS-CoV-2 at a level of 1.31 U/mL. The paper said that vaccination during pregnancy is "well studied and formally recommended". 

The researchers have concluded that the novel mRNA vaccines will demonstrate safety in the population. The paper read, "Natural SARS-CoV-2 infection, however, seems to confer lower than expected passage of antibodies to the fetus which may indicate newborns born to vaccinated mothers will remain at risk for infection." The researchers also determined that the 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, indicating that there is a potential for protection. Further, the researchers urged to create pregnancy and breastfeeding registries as well as to conduct efficacy and safety studies of the COVID-19 vaccines in pregnant and breastfeeding women and their offspring.

(Image Credits: RepresentativeImage/Unsplash/FéNgô)

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Published March 18th, 2021 at 11:24 IST

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