Vaccinating pregnant women against Covid protects babies from being hospitalized

Babies born to mothers vaccinated during pregnancy are about 60% less likely to be hospitalized with Covid-19, according to a new American study published on Tuesday (15).

Scientists believe that protection comes in particular from a transfer of antibodies against Covid between the pregnant mother and the baby, through the placenta.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted a study of infants up to six months old, hospitalized between July 2021 and January 2022.

The study showed that vaccinating mothers during pregnancy to prevent babies from being hospitalized after delivery is effective in over 61%.

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 had been vaccinated before becoming pregnant. Only those who received the two doses or the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines when they were pregnant were included.

“In summary, maternal vaccination is a very important way to help protect these babies,” concluded CDC researcher Dana Meaney-Delman during a press conference.

While Pfizer is expected to present the results of clinical trials in the coming weeks for a vaccine applicable from the age of six months, “it is not contemplated” for those under six months, he added.

The study also showed that protection was greater in babies whose mothers had been vaccinated later in pregnancy. This appears to be consistent with the fact that antibody levels decline in the months following injections.

But Dana Meaney-Delman considers it important that vaccination occurs at any stage of pregnancy to protect the mother in a possible serious case of the disease, if she becomes infected, which would also be dangerous for the fetus.