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COVID-19 vaccines can protect babies after birth and reduce the number of their hospitalizations due to fever.
So says a study by the United States Government published on Tuesday (February 16th).
The study is among the first to show eventual benefit to babies born after their mothers received two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine during pregnancy.
It was already known that antibodies that develop from the COVID-19 vaccine are transferred to the fetus through the umbilical cord. However, until now it was unclear how the vaccine affects children after birth.
“Until this study, we had no evidence that these antibodies could provide protection for the baby against COVID-19,” said Dr. Dana Dana Meaney-Delman, an obstetrician and researcher at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in USA.
The babies in the study were treated in 20 hospitals in 17 states from July 2021 to mid-January, during increases in cases involving the Delta and Omicron variants.
The researchers did not examine the degree of infection in the infants.
Instead, they looked at data on 176 children under 6 months who were hospitalized with COVID-19 and 203 in hospital for some other reason.
They also looked at the vaccination status of all mothers of babies.
The vaccination rate was much lower among mothers of infants with COVID-19 than among those whose infants were hospitalized with something else – 16% compared with 32%.
The results offer another reason for pregnant women to be vaccinated, the researchers said.
About two-thirds of pregnant women in the United States are fully vaccinated.
Most have received the vaccine before pregnancy, according to CDC data.
Other medications, including flu and cough vaccines, taken during pregnancy are known to protect mothers and babies.
The study offers “another important piece of the puzzle,” said Dr. Denise Jamieson, who called it important news for babies who are too young to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
While vaccines for infants and young children are being studied, none are on the horizon for infants younger than 6 months.
“It’s not surprising, but very calming,” Jamieson said.
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