A Cortez health care worker who received two shots of the coronavirus vaccine while pregnant gave birth to a girl last month with high levels of virus antibodies.
Haley Saunders was nine months pregnant when she received her second dose of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine. Saunders had not contracted COVID-19.
Saunders told The Journal that the only side effect she experienced from the vaccine were slight aches at night. She and her husband, Ryan, welcomed their first child, 6-pound, 13-ounce Reese, to the world on Feb. 24 at Southwest Memorial Hospital.
When Saunders took her daughter in for routine newborn blood work with Southwest Health System last week, she asked whether the baby could also be tested for antibodies.
“They found out really quickly, I think by the end of the day, that she had really high levels of antibodies,” Saunders said. “We were all pretty excited.”
Southwest Health System Directory of Laboratory Services Alan Laird explained that specific antibodies induced by the vaccine can transfer to the baby if the mother previously had the virus and developed her own, or if the mother was recently vaccinated.
“We got a very positive result,” Laird said. “To us, it just shows that yes, she was vaccinated five weeks prior. Her body responded and developed antibodies, and those antibodies then crossed the placenta.”
Although the baby’s “passive” antibodies from her mother will provide a baby with significant protection from the virus, they wane over time.
Reese is not producing her own antibodies.
“Since the baby hasn’t actually been vaccinated or exposed to COVID, the baby would be able to be infected in the future,” Laird said.
Laird told The Journal that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers the vaccine to be OK for pregnant women. Pregnant women considering getting the vaccine are encouraged to discuss it with a health care provider.
Saunders took many factors into consideration before receiving a vaccination.
“We made the decision for ourselves,” Saunders said. “Obviously any other pregnant mom or family would have to do their own research and find their comfort level.”
Saunders came to the conclusion after reading research from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists about the potential dangers of a pregnant woman contracting the virus.
“For me, the risks of COVID and being pregnant were significantly higher than taking the vaccine,” Saunders said.
According to Laird, it is not necessary for everyone to have their newborn tested for antibodies. But it does answer questions for medical experts.
“It’s kind of novel because this is a novel disease,” Laird said. “It’s interesting to show that the vaccine is working like we expect.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control, children and adolescents younger than age 18 are not authorized to receive the Moderna or Janssen COVID-19 vaccine at this time. Children and adolescents younger than 16, are not authorized to receive the Pfizer vaccine at this time.
Saunders said she never worried about having a child amid the pandemic.
“No, it was always in our plan,” Saunders said. “We weren’t going to change our plan.”
Florida newborn analysisAccording to a March 17 CBSNews article, a health worker from South Florida who had received one dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine while 36 weeks pregnant later passed on antibodies to her newborn child. It was considered one of the first cases of a newborn acquiring the antibodies during pregnancy.
The article states that two Florida doctors, Dr. Paul Gilbert and Dr. Chad A. Rudnick, of Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, released a preprint report about the newborn’s COVID-19 antibodies.
It was published in medRxiv, a preprint server for health sciences. A preprint article presents new medical research that has not been peer reviewed.
According to the preprint report, the Florida woman’s healthy baby was the “first known case of an infant with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies detectable in cord blood after maternal vaccination.” The woman had received a single dose of the Moderna vaccine three weeks before delivering the baby.
The cord blood antibodies were detected at a level of 1.31 units per milliliter. A milliliter is equivalent to about one-fifth of a teaspoon.
The report authors said additional research is needed about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy.
They said that when pregnant mothers are vaccinated for influenza, tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, the antibodies for those viruses are effectively transferred to the newborn.
“Similar newborn protection would be expected after maternal vaccination against” COVID-19, the report states.
Newborns may have a lower infection risk if their mothers were vaccinated, but more studies are needed on antibody response in newborns.
How long the COVID-19 antibodies will provide protection for the newborn is an unanswered question, as well as ideal timing of vaccinations for pregnant women.
“We urge other investigators to create pregnancy and breastfeeding registries as well as conduct efficacy and safety studies of the COVID-19 vaccines in pregnant and breastfeeding woman and their offspring,” the authors state in conclusion.
Gilbert and Rudnick are pediatricians at Boca Raton Regional Hospital in Florida.
