In a new study from CDC, researchers found that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy delivers real protection to newborns.
They found the majority of babies, actually, 84%, who were hospitalized with COVID-19 were born to people who were not vaccinated during pregnancy.
Among babies with COVID-19 who were admitted to the ICU—the sickest babies—88% were born to mothers who were not vaccinated before or during pregnancy.
The only baby who died in the study was born to an unvaccinated mother.
Overall, the study found that babies less than 6 months old whose mothers were vaccinated were 61% less likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19.
The finding provides real-world evidence that getting a COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy might help protect infants less than 6 months of age from hospitalization due to COVID-19.
The team says women at any stage of pregnancy—or even prior to pregnancy—should get their COVID vaccination.
Still, the timing of the shots in this latest study did make a difference in how protective the vaccine was for an infant.
Vaccination was 80% effective at protecting a newborn against severe COVID-19 if a mom got her two shots after 21 weeks of gestation.
Any earlier in pregnancy and the vaccine’s effectiveness against hospitalization is only around 32%.
In the study, the team evaluated 176 infants younger than 6 months of age hospitalized for COVID-19 at 20 pediatric hospitals across 17 states between July 2021 and January 2022.
Their cases were compared with 203 babies who were COVID-free but hospitalized during the same period.
About 16% of babies hospitalized for COVID-19 had moms who had received two vaccine doses during pregnancy. By comparison, 32% of the control group babies had moms vaccinated while expecting.
The findings are consistent with the possibility that COVID-19 antibodies can transfer across the placenta and provide protection to infants following delivery, the researchers concluded.
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The study is published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and was conducted by Dr. Dana Meaney-Delman et al.
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