Study of 180 breastfeeding mothers after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination
Vaccines against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of COVID-19, were developed at an unprecedented pace. To date, more than 1 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide, many of which messenger RNA (mRNA) based.
Clinical trials for both the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 and Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccines demonstrated the ability to prevent infection and severe disease, leading to emergency use authorization U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine have recommended that these mRNA vaccines be made available for lactating women. However, the initial trials excluded breastfeeding women, leading to questions about their safety.