Palm Beach County baby is the first to be born with COVID-19 antibodies after mother vaccinated during pregnancy

Two local pediatricians, Dr. Paul Gilbert and Dr. Chad Rudnick said it was here in Palm Beach County where for the first time, an infant was born with COVID-19 antibodies after the mother had been vaccinated.

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

According to the doctors, a local front-line healthcare worker was 36 weeks pregnant when she was given the first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

The baby girl was born three weeks later in late January and a blood sample was taken.

“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,” Gilbert said.

The results showed the baby had the COVID-19 antibodies.

Rudnick says this is significant in the fight to protect children from COVID-19.

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

But the article on the findings published by the local pediatricians on medRxiv said there are some factors that indicate that newborns born to vaccinated mothers will remain at risk for infection.

“Further studies have to determine how long will this protection 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,” Rudnick said.

The doctors said their paper has been accepted for publication as well and they are just waiting for the journal to put it on their site.

Gilbert tells me some big pharmacy companies are starting to include pregnant women in their ongoing studies of the vaccine so they can learn more.