Trace amounts of Moderna and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines were detected in new mothers’ breast milk, according to a study conducted by researchers at New York University.
The report – “Detection of Messenger RNA COVID-19 Vaccines in Human Breast Milk” – was uploaded to JAMA Network Open, which is a project of the American Medical Association, on September 26th.
Noting that “the initial messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine clinical trials excluded several vulnerable groups, including young children and lactating individuals,” the New York University Long Island School of Medicine’s study attempted to address the research gap by tracking levels of the vaccine in a cohort of breastfeeding women.
The study analyzed the breastmilk of 11 healthy women, with five study participants receiving a Moderna COVID-19 shot and the remaining six receiving Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. Researchers sampled breast milk for five days post vaccination, and trace amounts were detected in seven samples belonging to five different participants.
Forty-five percent of study participants, therefore, saw COVID-19 vaccines taint their breastmilk.
Of the samples containing trace amounts of COVID-19 vaccine mRNA, two participants received a Moderna vaccine and three participants received a Pfizer vaccine.
The study follows the British government’s Department of Health and Social Care recommending against COVID-19 vaccines in pregnant and breastfeeding women, admitting that “sufficient reassurance of safe use of the vaccine” for the demographic “cannot be provided at the present time.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, still recommends offering COVID-19 mRNA vaccines to breastfeeding individuals at the time of this study’s publication. Other federal agencies have authorized the use of COVID-19 vaccines following a massive lobbying campaign launched by the pharmaceutical companies responsible for manufacturing the products.
Additional studies into the vaccine have shown adverse effects on the health of its recipients, including altered menstrual cycles in women, lowered sperm count in men, and cardiovascular problems in children and young adults.
Reporting from The National Pulse.
