Small study suggests mRNA from COVID-19 jabs does not end up in breast milk

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-07-07 01:00

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US scientists tested breast milk from seven women before and after they'd received mRNA vaccines for COVID-19, and found there was no mRNA from the vaccines present in milk following vaccination. Five of the women had received the Pfizer BioNTech mRNA vaccine, while the other two received the Moderna mRNA vaccine. Although larger studies are required to confirm the findings, the scientists say their results provide early evidence to back current recommendations that vaccine-related mRNA is not transferred from mother to baby via breast milk, and that women should not stop breastfeeding because they've had the vaccine.

Media release

From: JAMA

Evaluation of Messenger RNA From COVID-19 Vaccines in Human Milk

What The Study Did: COVID-19 vaccine-associated messenger RNA (mRNA) wasn’t detected in 13 human milk samples collected after vaccination from seven breastfeeding mothers.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Pediatrics

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of California, San Francisco, USA

Funder: This study was supported by the Marino Family Foundation (Dr Prahl), the National Institutes of Health (grant K23AI127886 to Dr Prahl and grant K08AI141728 to Dr Gaw), theWeizmann Institute of Science–National Postdoctoral Award Program for AdvancingWomen in Science (Dr Golan), the International Society for Research In Human Milk and Lactation Trainee Bridge Fund (Dr Golan), and the Human Frontier Science Program (Dr Golan).

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