COVID-19 vaccines safe for mothers and newborns: new study
Juanique Tennant / Our Today
COVID-19 mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, have been proven as safe for pregnant and lactating women who are likely to pass the antibodies on to their newborns, according to research published Thursday (March 24) in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard have now come to the conclusion that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are safe and effective for pregnant and lactating mothers to take.
The conclusion comes after findings from a review of samples of 131 women who received either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine during the period December 17, 2020 to March 2, 2021, indicated that the vaccine-induced antibody levels were equivalent in pregnant and lactating women when compared to non-pregnant women.
Of the 131 women whose samples were reviewed 84 were pregnant, 31 were lactating and 16 were not pregnant.
In addition to equivalent antibody levels, the team also found that both pregnant and lactating women passed protective antibodies to their newborns, through the placenta and breast milk respectively.
The study noted, however, that during its review, no evidence of more side effects or more intense side effects in pregnant and lactating women than in the general population was found.
Though the research signals a step in the right direction as it relates to vaccinating pregnant and lactating mothers, the researchers say more testing on a larger scale needs to be done to confirm the safety of vaccines for this particular group that was excluded from most COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials.
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