Placental Transfer Immunity to the Newborns in a Twin Pregnant Women Vaccinated with Heterologous CoronaVac-ChAdOx1

Abstract

Pregnant women who receive the COVID-19 vaccine develop anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, which can be transferred to the fetus. However, the effectiveness of placental transfer has not been evaluated in twin pregnancy, especially in cases vaccinated with heterologous CoronaVac (Sinovac)—ChAdOx1 (Oxford-AstraZeneca) regimen, which was commonly used in many countries. Case: A 34-year-old Thai woman with a twin pregnancy attended our antenatal care clinic at 21 + 2 weeks of gestation and requested COVID-19 vaccination. Her medical history and physical examination were unremarkable. She had not received COVID-19 vaccination before. Ultrasound screening for fetal anomaly revealed a dichorion diamnion twin pregnancy. Both twins showed no structural anomaly. She received the CoronaVac vaccine at 21 + 2 weeks of gestation without serious side effects and the ChAdOx1 vaccine at 24 + 2 weeks of gestation. Cesarean delivery was performed at 36 + 5 weeks of gestation, giving birth to the two healthy babies. The levels of anti-spike protein IgG levels (BAU/mL) in maternal blood just before delivery and umbilical cord blood of the two newborns were 313.349, 678.219, and 874.853, respectively. The levels of % inhibition (wild-type and delta) in the two newborns were also higher than those in the mother. In conclusion, heterologous CoronaVac-ChAdOx1-S vaccination in a twin pregnancy could effectively provide protective immunity to both twin newborns. The antibody levels in both were approximately two times higher than those in the mothers. This case report may serve as a reference in counseling couples with a twin pregnancy, while the studies on placental transfer of vaccine-derived antibodies in twin pregnancy are currently not available, especially in countries experiencing a vaccine shortage or unavailability of mRNA vaccines.