A newborn in South Florida has become the first U.S. baby born with COVID-19 antibodies after her mother received the vaccine just weeks before her due date.

A South Florida frontline worker received her first round of the Moderna vaccine when she was 36-weeks pregnant. Before she was to go back for her second dose of the vaccine, she delivered her baby girl. That baby was found to have antibodies from the vaccine in her blood which is encouraging to healthcare professionals as this may show that a fragile population can get protection against the coronavirus without being vaccinated themselves.

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The woman's doctors took a sample of the baby's blood from the placenta after they cut it but before they delivered the placenta, according to CBS News. Once the blood was analyzed it was determined that antibodies were present in the baby's blood even though only one dose of the vaccine was administered to her mother.

Drs. Paul Gilbert and Chad Rudnick have since written a journal article on their findings. Though it is still in preprint form, the doctors are expecting it to be peer-reviewed soon, according to the International Business Times, and then it will be officially published.

Because there currently are not any vaccines available for young children, finding out that there are antibodies in this baby's bloodstream that have been transferred from her mother makes healthcare professionals optimistic that babies may get protection from the coronavirus that is much needed due to their immature immune systems.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, a baby's immune system is not mature enough to fight off even the common cold until he is two to three months old. This leaves quite a window where a newborn is vulnerable to contracting bacteria and viruses that could leave him extremely sick. That is why the mother's antibodies are key to keeping an infant healthy during those crucial months.

It has already been determined that women who were pregnant and COVID-positive passed along antibodies to their babies that would hopefully protect them from getting the virus. Until now, it was hypothesized that the same would happen with the vaccine but there was not any definitive evidence available that concluded this. Now, not only does it appear that the vaccine does provide antibodies to newborns, what is even more exciting is that the little ones receive some form of protection from their mother only after the first round of the vaccine.

It is important for researchers to do more digging into the efficacy of the antibodies that babies receive as a result of their mothers getting vaccinated, according to CBS News. And with all of the drug companies currently involved in or beginning stages of vaccine trials for pregnant women, their findings will be especially important when it comes to testing babies whose mothers have received the vaccine to determine if all provide the same antibody response that the Moderna vaccine did for this woman and her baby.

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Source: CBS News, International Business Times, Cleveland Clinic, medrxiv.org