PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. - Doctors in Florida say a baby delivered in January was born with COVID-19 antibodies after the mother received a vaccine during her pregnancy.

WPBF spoke with the two pediatricians who made the discovery, saying they believe it's the first known occurrence of COVID antibodies being passed on directly to a newborn after the mother's vaccination.

Doctors said the child's mother, a frontline worker, got her first dose of the Moderna vaccine when she was 36 weeks pregnant. The baby was born three weeks later in late January.

“We tested the baby’s cord to see if the antibodies in the mother passed to the baby which is something, we see happen with other vaccines given during pregnancy,” Dr. Paul Gilbert told WPBF.

The results of that test showed the baby had antibodies. Dr. Chad Rudnick said the discovery is huge for the fight to protect kids from the coronavirus. Though the findings are promising, the doctors said babies born from vaccinated mothers could still be at risk for infection. 

“Further studies have to determine how long will this protection last. They have to determine at what level of protection or how many antibodies does a baby need to have circulating in order to give them protection,” Rudnick said.

You can read the full findings here.