A vaccinated Florida woman gives birth to first newborn with COVID-19 antibodies

A vaccinated woman from Florida just gave birth to the first newborn with COVID-19 antibodies. In an article published on Forbes, the said woman turned out to be a healthcare worker. She said that she received her first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at 36 weeks of pregnancy. Three weeks later, she gave birth to a healthy newborn girl.

Samples of the newborn’s umbilical cord blood at the time of delivery demonstrated presence of COVID-19 antibodies.

Forbes wrote:

As discussed by authors of the pre-print article regarding this patient, maternal transmission to the fetus of both influenza as well as TDaP (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) antibodies after being vaccinated during pregnancy have been shown in the past to provide some protection to newborns who are too young to be vaccinated, for up to six months. It is hopeful that COVID-19 antibody transmission will provide similar protection.

When it comes to the antibodies against the said disease, it still remains unclear whether it could prevent acute COVID-19 infections in both newborns and older infants. It is likely that these antibodies will provide some protection, infants and children may still merit COVID-19 vaccination. As is the case for routinely used vaccines such as the flu vaccine (given to infants ages 6 months and older) and DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis vaccine, the first dose of the series given at age 2 months).