A South Florida woman who received a COVID-19 vaccine delivered the first known child with antibodies, according to a pair of doctors.
The woman, who is a front-line medical worker, had received the first dose of Moderna’s shot when she was 36 weeks pregnant, WPBF reported.
When she gave birth three weeks later, in January, in Palm Beach County, a blood sample was taken from the umbilical cord.
“We tested the baby’s cord to see if the mother’s antibodies passed to the baby, which we see is happening with other vaccines given during pregnancy,” Dr. Paul Gilbert told the news station.
The blood sample confirmed what the doctors suspected: the baby was born with antibodies.
“To our knowledge, this was the first in the world to be reported about a child born with antibodies after vaccination,” Gilbert said.
Gilbert and Dr. Chad Rudnick presented their findings in a new paper – which has not yet been evaluated by colleagues and explains that more research is needed to determine whether antibodies protect newborns.
“We urge other investigators to create pregnancy and lactation registries, as well as to conduct efficacy and safety studies of Covid-19 vaccines in pregnant and lactating women and their offspring,” they wrote.