Vaccine protection in mother’s milk strongest after mRNA shots
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Women who wish to pass protective antibodies induced by COVID-19 vaccines to their babies via breast milk should opt for the mRNA shots from Moderna (MRNA.O) or Pfizer (PFE.N)/BioNTech , according to a study reported on Monday in JAMA Pediatrics.
For the study, 124 lactating women each provided 17 milk samples over a period of 100 days.
The women had received either an mRNA vaccine or a vector-based vaccine from Johnson & Johnson or AstraZeneca. Researchers measured two types of antibodies in the milk samples – IgA antibodies and IgG antibodies, both of which are thought to play important roles in protecting breastfed infants.
Nearly all – 96% to 97% – of the women who received both doses of an mRNA vaccine had detectable IgA antibodies in their milk, while only 39% had antibodies in their milk after two doses of the AstraZeneca shot and 48% after the one-dose J&J vaccine.
All the women who received both doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna or AstraZeneca vaccines had IgG antibodies, compared to only 28% of women who received J&J’s shot.
“An mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine is the optimal choice for lactating women when they want to transfer breast milk antibodies to their infants,” the researchers concluded.
