Vaccinated Florida woman gives birth to first-known baby born with Covid antibodies

‘This is one small case in what will be thousands and thousands of babies born to mothers who have been vaccinated’

A healthcare worker in Florida has given birth to a baby with Covid antibodies - the first known case of this happening after a person was vaccinated.

In a case that experts say could have significant implications for efforts to fight the pandemic, it was reported that the woman, had been vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine when she was 36 weeks pregnant. 

She gave birth three weeks, in January, a blood sample was taken from the baby girl, and a DNA test was performed.

“We tested the baby’s cord to see if the antibodies in the mother passed to the baby which is something, we see happen with other vaccines given during pregnancy,” Palm Beach pediatrician Dr Paul Gilbert told told Florida’s WPBF. 

“To our knowledge, this was the first in the world that was reported of a baby being born with antibodies after a vaccination.”

Mr Gilbert and another Florida doctor,  Dr Chad Rudnick, have written up the findings in an online journal, medRxiv, that has yet to be peer reviewed. 

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“This is one small case in what will be thousands and thousands of babies born to mothers who have been vaccinated over the next several months,” said Mr Rudnick. 

“Further studies have to determine how long this protection will last. They have to determine at what level of protection or how many antibodies does a baby need to have circulating in order to give them protection.”

He said that scientists were still learning about how the vaccine interacts with women who are pregnant. 

Some pharmaceutical companies have started to include pregnant women in their studies of the vaccine.