Israeli research finds COVID vaccine antibodies pass from pregnant mom to baby
A new study by researchers from Hadassah-University Medical Center showed that pregnant women who get vaccinated against coronavirus could pass along their immunity to their babies.
The study, which has thus far only been published on MedRxiv and therefore not peer reviewed, evaluated the level of Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies of 20 pregnant women who had received two shots of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine during their third trimester, and their infants. In all cases, these antibodies were detected at adequate levels both in the mothers’ blood and in cord blood.
“Neonatal protection from infection is primarily dependent on maternally derived antibodies that are transferred via the placenta,” Dana Wolf, director of the Clinical
Virology Unit at Hadassah who is one of the lead researchers on the study, told The Jerusalem Post. “We demonstrated an efficient placental transfer of IgG antibodies – the kind of antibodies that are triggered by infection or following vaccination.”
The researchers specifically measured the level of antibodies against the SARSCoV-2 spike protein and its receptor binding domain, which would show whether the antibodies would protect against COVID-19. Wolf said the level and type of antibodies were suggestive of “being able to sufficiently block the virus.”
The study was conducted in February, very soon after the first pregnant women began being vaccinated in Israel. Wolf said the study is ongoing and the team is now evaluating the level of antibodies in women who were vaccinated earlier in their pregnancies, too.
Wolf, who worked on the study with a handful of other experts – including top obstetricians Dr. Amihai Rottenstreich and Shay Porat – said that the group will now start looking at how long the antibodies will last in the babies.
Placental transfer of antibodies is not uncommon. For example, pregnant women are commonly vaccinated against pertussis in order to protect their newborns from developing the illness.
Since the start of the third wave, dozens of pregnant women have ended up in intensive care units after contracting COVID-19. In most cases, they were forced to deliver their babies early via emergency C-sections. In the worst cases, some of the women died.
Wolf said that, “the vaccine protects the women from severe disease and now we believe it also could help protect their babies during the early period of life.”
To me, Meghan Markle’s behavior is similar to that of cult leaders who separate their ”victims” from their family, friends, culture and heritage and get their allegiance by saying that they alone understand and love them.
Would a racist monarchy have given Markle such a wonderful wedding with a preacher and black choir? Her mother was treated with honor and welcomed by the Queen as family. Prince Charles walked her down the aisle.
To dishonor your husband’s family publicly has nothing to do with culture but shows very bad manners and bad taste.
As an ex-pat all I want to say is: God save our gracious Queen!
FREYA BINENFELD Petah Tikva
Amotz Asa-El praises Britain for all that the small island has bestowed on the world, from the mother of parliaments alongside a universal language and a judicial system widely copied among its many accomplishments, in punching well beyond its weight. (“In praise of Britain,” March 12).
However, his assumption that “without the crown Britain would be like a lighthouse without a lamp” is debatable. The dysfunctional house of Windsor has done its best in recent times to run aground and will no doubt sink further once the dutiful Queen Elizabeth is no longer part of the scene.
The royal motto “Never complain, never explain” has succumbed to the vagaries of modern life, caught between those wishing to modernize the institution and those attempting at all cost to maintain a them-and-us tradition.
Should a referendum be held in gauging the public’s opinion on the monarchy’s future, it would no doubt be a close-run event with a multitude of naysayers emanating from the younger generation who find the excessive privilege that is bestowed on the few to be out of sync in today’s society.
The revelations revealed in Oprah Winfrey’s recent interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex is further proof that this royal soap opera is perfect fodder for prime time viewing but does very little to endear the watching masses, by washing ones dirty laundry in public.
STEPHEN VISHNICK Tel Aviv