JERUSALEM: Pregnant women vaccinated against COVID-19 could override protection for their babies, according to a new study in Israel.
According to the research conducted in February, antibodies were detected in all 20 women who were given both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine during the third trimester of pregnancy and in their newborns, through transmission placental.
“Our findings highlight that vaccination of pregnant women may provide maternal and neonatal protection from SARS-CoV-2 infection,” the study said.
The findings from researchers from Hadassah-Jerusalem University Medical Center were posted this month on medRxiv – an online circulation service for unpublished research manuscripts that have not been peer-reviewed – and reported by Israeli media on Tuesday.
The authors noted the small size of the study and said that more research was needed to measure the effect of vaccines at different stages of pregnancy, and the safety and effectiveness of the various vaccines now available.
One of the researchers, Dana Wolf, was summoned by the Jerusalem Post saying the group would now start looking at how long the antibodies induced by the vaccines in infants last.
Pfizer and BioNTech said last month that they began an international study of 4,000 volunteers to evaluate the safety and efficacy of their COVID-19 vaccine in pregnant women.
The trial will also assess whether vaccinated pregnant women pass on protective antibodies to their babies.
A separate U.S. study posted last week and also awaiting peer review, found that the antibodies induced in pregnant women were removed from COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. , such as the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna pictures, transferred to the infants through milk or breast milk.
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