Dr. Malavika Prabhu

COVID-19 vaccination of expectant mothers elicits levels of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 outer “spike” protein at the time of delivery that don’t vary dramatically with the timing of vaccination during pregnancy and thus don’t justify delaying vaccination, according to a study from researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian.

Women who receive COVID-19 mRNA vaccines produced by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna while in their third trimester of pregnancy generate a strong immune response and pass protective antibodies through umbilical cord blood to their babies.

Two studies from Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian investigators suggest that maternal-to-child transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is rare; however, one study found that complications after birth occurred for some mothers infected with the virus.