COVID-19 | Vaccines are more protective for pregnant women and babies if given in the third trimester

Vaccination against COVID-19 In pregnant women it has been found to be more effective when the injection is inoculated in the third trimester of pregnancy, although it has also achieved good results, but somewhat lower, if the ‘prick’ is received at the beginning of pregnancy or weeks before gestation.

This has been revealed by an investigation by the Weill Cornell Medical Center (New York), which has been published in the journal ‘Obstetrics & Gynecology’. The study has analyzed the levels of antibodies against the protein ‘spyke’ and in the umbilical cord blood of their babies.

Researchers have found that levels of these antibodies at delivery tended to be highest when the initial vaccination cycle occurred in the third trimester. However, they also found that antibody levels at delivery are still comparatively high, and probably still protective, when the vaccine occurs early in pregnancy or even a few weeks before pregnancy, and a booster shot at the end of the pregnancy. pregnancy can make

“Women often ask what is the best time to vaccinate their baby; our data suggest it is now “said Malavika Prabhu, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine.

All women tested have been vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 during or six weeks prior to pregnancy and delivered after 34 weeks or more of gestation. Thus, research has revealed that ‘anti spyke’ antibodies were generally detectable at the time of delivery, among all fully vaccinated women, regardless of the timing of the first vaccine dose.

Among women with no history of SARS-CoV-2 infection who received the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccine in two doses, antibody levels at delivery were lower after pre-pregnancy or first trimester vaccination and higher after vaccination in the third trimester; however, the difference was not great. There were no significant differences in anti-spyke antibody levels by timing of vaccination among the relatively small number of women who received the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) single-dose vaccine.

Among vaccinated women who had a history of COVID-19 infection, levels of spyke protein antibodies at the time of delivery in the maternal and baby blood showed an even smaller decline with the earliest time of vaccination.

“The message here is that you can get vaccinated at any time during pregnancy and it is likely to be beneficial to you and your baby at the time of birth, and of course getting vaccinated early will protect you and your baby throughout the entire process of pregnancy. pregnancy”, stressed research first author Yawei Jenny Yang, assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine.

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