Babies born to mothers who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus during pregnancy are about 60% less likely to be hospitalized with Covid-19. This is according to a new American study published on Tuesday.
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The researchers think that this protection is mainly due to a transfer of antibodies against the virus between a pregnant mother and her baby, via the placenta.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted a study of infants up to six months old, who were hospitalized between July 2021 and January 2022. Vaccinating mothers during pregnancy to prevent babies from being hospitalized after birth was found to be 61% efficient, according to the study.
The mother of the only baby who died during the study was not vaccinated. And 84% of babies hospitalized with Covid-19 were born to unvaccinated mothers.
The study did not take into account women who were vaccinated before pregnancy. Only those who received either the two doses or their second dose of the vaccine from Pfizer or Moderna during their pregnancy were included in the study.
“In summary, we can say that maternal vaccination can help protect these young babies,” CDC researcher Dana Meaney-Delman said at a news conference.
The study also found that protection was higher for babies whose mothers had been vaccinated later in her pregnancy. This corresponds to the finding that the level of antibodies decreases in the months after the injection.
However, Meaney-Delman stressed the importance of vaccination at every stage of pregnancy to protect the mother from the potentially serious consequences of an infection, which can also be dangerous for the baby in her womb.
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