Expecting mothers who get vaccinated against COVID-19 could pass on protective antibodies to their babies after they’re born, according to a new study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday. Newborns are far less likely to be hospitalized for the disease if their mothers have received two doses of an mRNA vaccine, particularly if they get jabbed in the later stages of their pregnancy. Tuesday’s study is the first real-world evidence that maternal vaccination extends to babies under 6 months old, with a 61 percent efficacy rate at preventing infant hospitalization. “The bottom line is that maternal vaccination is a really important way to help protect these young infants,” Dr. Dana Meaney-Delman, a CDC researcher, told reporters at a news briefing. Meaney-Delman added that this was particularly important as vaccines for newborns were “not currently on the horizon.”
