The COVID-19 vaccines from the Pfizer and BioNTech laboratories and the Moderna pharmaceutical company are effective in pregnant and lactating women, and also confer immunity to newborns through breast milk and the placenta, according to research published this Thursday in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
The study looked at 131 women of reproductive age who received the coronavirus vaccine from one of the two pharmaceutical companies mentioned.
Of these, 84 were pregnant, 31 were lactating, and 16 were not.
The analysis was carried out by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and the Ragon Institute at MGH, MIT, and Harvard.
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The antibody levels induced by the vaccine were equivalent in pregnant and lactating women compared to non-pregnant women, and
no evidence of more or greater side effects was found in pregnant women compared to the rest of the population
.
The antibody levels were "surprisingly higher" than those resulting from coronavirus infection during pregnancy, according to the team of researchers.
The samples were collected between December 17, 2020 and March 2, 2021.
"This confirmation of the high efficacy of the vaccine is very encouraging for pregnant and lactating women who were left out of the initial COVID-19 vaccine trials," said Andrea Edlow, co-lead author of the study.
In addition, the team found that women passed protective antibodies to their newborns: "Almost all moms were passing a fairly decent level of antibodies to their babies," said Galit Alter, a professor of medicine at the Ragon Institute, who recalled that you need more additional research to find out how long those defenses will last.
The study used the tool, a system of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, for its acronym in English) for smartphones that uses text messages and web surveys to offer personalized health checks after vaccination. .
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Although the team found similar antibody levels in women vaccinated with both vaccines, Alter said they found higher levels of IgA (Immunoglobulin A) antibodies in pregnant women who received the vaccine Modern
"There is some reason to think that having higher levels of IgA antibodies might become more protective [against COVID-19],"
Alter noted.
Further research on this topic could help health workers decide which vaccines to administer to pregnant women, according to the researcher.
Pregnant and lactating women were not included in the initial clinical trials of the vaccines.
A healthcare worker administers a dose of Pfizer-BioNtech's coronavirus vaccine to a pregnant woman in Tel Aviv, Israel, on January 23, 2021. Jack Guez / AFP via Getty Images
According to the CDC, pregnant women are at higher risk for worse complications and preterm labor if they catch COVID-19.
The agency expects results on vaccine safety in about 13,000 pregnant women for each of the three licensed coronavirus vaccines.
As of March 22, they had some 3,612 candidates registered.
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"It is an urgent need, because we are not only protecting one person in this vaccination effort, we are protecting two people at the same time," Alter recalled.
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It is not recommended that pregnant women pass a coronavirus test before getting vaccinated or that they consider delaying a pregnancy because they received the vaccine.
For women who fall into the second category, the World Health Organization does not recommend stopping breastfeeding after having been vaccinated.
With information from CNN.