Babies born to COVID-vaccinated moms have antibodies at 6 monthsA small Massachusetts General Hospital–based study in JAMA shows more lasting antibodies in infants after COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy, compared with infants whose mothers had natural COVID-19 infections during pregnancy but were not vaccinated.The study looked at 77 vaccinated pregnant mothers, and 12 who had symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy; all vaccination series with mRNA vaccines were completed between weeks 20 and 32 in pregnancy.
The babies of vaccinated women had significantly higher immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies in both umbilical cord blood at delivery, and at blood draws at 2 and 6 months postpartum.After 2 months, 98% of the infants (48 of 49) born to vaccinated mothers had detectable levels of protective IgG; by 6 months, 57% of infants born to vaccinated mothers had detectable antibodies, compared with just 8% of babies born to mothers with natural infections."Although the antibody titer known to be protective against COVID-19 in infants is unknown, these findings provide further incentive for pregnant individuals to pursue COVID-19 vaccination," the authors concluded.In a press release on the study, senior study author Andrea Edlow, MD, said the research helps fill in some knowledge gaps on infant protection from maternal antibodies."Many interested parties from parents to pediatricians want to know how long maternal antibodies persist in infants after vaccination, and now we can provide some answers.
We hope these findings will provide further incentive for pregnant people to get vaccinated, especially with the emergence of new variants of concern like Omicron," she said. Feb 7 JAMA study Feb 7 Massachusetts General