Study supports COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy

Receiving a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine or booster during pregnancy can benefit mothers and their newborn infants, according to a National Institutes of Health-funded study. Published in the August issue of Vaccine, the researchers followed more than 500 pregnant volunteers and their newborns. They found pregnant mothers who received the vaccines generated antibodies against COVID-19. The antibodies crossed the placenta to the cord blood of newborns, likely protecting them against COVID-19 during a time when they are vulnerable to severe COVID-19 disease but too young to be vaccinated. Those who received boosters had substantially more antibodies in their own blood and in their cord blood, suggesting boosting increased their newborns’ immune defenses against COVID-19. (NIH news release, 8/11/23)