Pregnant women who get mRNA vaccines pass high levels of antibodies to their babies, according to a study published in American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology – Maternal Fetal Medicine on Wednesday.

The study — one of the first to measure antibody levels in umbilical cord blood to distinguish whether immunity is from infection or vaccines — found that 36 newborns tested at birth all had antibodies to protect against COVID-19 after their mothers were vaccinated with shots from Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE or Moderna Inc.

“We didn’t anticipate that. We expected to see more variability,” said Ashley Roman, an obstetrician at NYU Langone Health System and co-author of the study.

The data could help encourage more women to get vaccinated during their pregnancies. Only 30% of pregnant women ages 18 to 49 are vaccinated, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data from Sept. 11, despite growing evidence of prenatal vaccine safety. Given the study’s small sample size, the team is now looking at results from a larger group, as well as how long immunization lasts for infants after birth.

“We pushed this data out relatively early because it’s a unique finding and it has important implications for care,” Roman said. “Right now we’re recommending all pregnant women receive the vaccine for maternal benefit.”

The National Institutes of Health began a study called MOMI-VAX to measure how long antibodies against Covid-19 will last in people vaccinated during pregnancy. The same researchers will also assess the transfer of vaccine-induced antibodies to infants across the placenta and breast milk.

The CDC’s vaccine advisory panel met Wednesday for a general review of vaccine efficacy and safety. They’ve gathered more data on vaccines’ safety during pregnancy from v-safe, a CDC-established registry for people who say they’re pregnant at the time of vaccination, according to Christine Olson, a doctor on the so-called ACIP committee. According to the registry, there’s no evidence vaccines harm the fetus.

Pfizer and BioNTech are also studying how their shots affect pregnant women and their babies. The drugmakers “stopped enrollment in the U.S. because of recommendations encouraging vaccination of pregnant women,” Pfizer said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg after the Wall Street Journal reported the delay Wednesday, citing concerns that women in the study might get a placebo. The companies are looking at sites in countries that don’t advise pregnant women to get shots for possible study sites, according to the statement.

The researchers studied cord blood of 36 fully vaccinated women to look for antibodies to spike protein, which appears after vaccination or getting sick from COVID, and to nucleocapsid protein, which is only present after getting COVID. Prior studies focused on antibodies to the spike protein.

Among the 36 samples the researchers looked at, 31 tested negative for antibodies to the nucleocapsid protein. In other words, 31 pregnant women developed immunity from the vaccine. The other five weren’t tested for nucleocapsid protein, so the researchers can’t conclusively say the immunity was from the vaccine or from natural infection.

The findings show “very encouraging levels of antibody in cord blood,” said Linda Eckert, an obstetrics and gynecology professor at the University of Washington who wasn’t involved in the study. “This is another reason pregnant women should get vaccinated, as we are seeing more disease in younger infants and this is a proactive choice pregnant individuals can make to protect their infants.” — Bloomberg

TOULOUSE, France – Airbus led a chorus of pledges by aviation leaders to cut emissions under an eco-friendly new slogan on Wednesday, but was forced to defend its jet-selling business under criticism from campaigners urging the industry to tame its growth.

The European company, which last year announced plans to develop a hydrogen-powered airplane from 2035, said aviation could only hit net-zero carbon emissions in 2050 if airports, airlines and air traffic systems also embraced radical change.

“Reaching net zero will be the result of a truly unparalleled act of cooperation,” Executive Vice President Julie Kitcher told the “Airbus Summit”, attended by policymakers and airlines including easyJet and Lufthansa.

Alternative fuels, lightweight materials and a long-awaited overhaul of air traffic systems are needed, Airbus said. But delegates were warned the transition could also force up fares.

Days before German elections that could reshape European green politics, Airbus road-tested a new slogan designed to link its own brand and an under-pressure aviation industry with sustainability: “The world is a beautiful place”.

Replacing the earlier catchphrase “We make it fly”, the rebranding could be contentious with green groups. It nonetheless reflects a shift in industry boardroom priorities – from winning the race to develop iconic machines, to overcoming the climate concerns of politicians and investors.

Speakers at the polished event at the planemaker’s Toulouse headquarters were supplied with “key messages,” though Airbus did for the first time provide a platform for industry critics.

Transport & Environment, which advocates tighter controls on aviation, accused the industry of chipping away at regulation while appearing to be supportive over environmental goals.

It challenged Airbus to stop selling new short-haul jets in Europe from 2035, the date at which it says it will have the hydrogen-powered model available for about 100 passengers.

“If we can’t mandate the solution, we should at least begin phasing out the problem,” Aviation Director Andrew Murphy said.

Airbus Chief Executive Guillaume Faury defended the sale of new jets, saying it was the best way to cut emissions quickly, pending solutions that include hydrogen power for smaller jets.

“We don’t need to stop selling new planes; on the contrary, we need to accelerate the replacement of old planes … given the speed at which we reduce fuel burn,” he said.

Only 10% of planes in service already use the cleanest technology available today, Airbus said.

RARE UNITY

Industry executives at the two-day, in-person and webcast event agreed on the need for sweeping public and private investment and a “level global playing field” in the race to reduce carbon emissions, for which jetliners account for 2-3%.

Observers said the event marshalled rare unity in an industry struggling to shed the carbon tag and meet opposition from activists and some policymakers, especially in Europe.

Yet cracks appeared over how quickly to adopt low-emission bio-based fuels, which cost three times more than kerosene.

EasyJet Chief Executive Johan Lundgren – locked in a battle with legacy carriers over who should bear the brunt of a new European Union mandate to use more Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) – dismissed it as a meaningful long-term solution.

But the chief executive of London’s Heathrow urged airlines to kickstart use of the fuel, which manufacturers concede will be the main option for long-haul flights for decades.

“If we don’t get to net zero by 2050 we won’t have a business. The faster we scale up SAF the faster we can decarbonise aviation,” John Holland-Kaye said.

Watching in the audience were some of the financiers who have tens of billions riding on aviation’s ability to overcome environmental pressure and tackle huge technical challenges.

“Some of it may be for public consumption but there’s a real authenticity from Airbus. They have got to start somewhere,” said Peter Barrett, chief executive of SMBC Aviation Capital.

“It can’t be one solution. This is something Airbus, Boeing and engine makers should be working on together. It’s as big a collective challenge as the COVID vaccine.” — Reuters

SINGAPORE/SHANGHAI – China Evergrande agreed to settle interest payments on a domestic bond on Wednesday, while the Chinese central bank injected cash into the banking system, temporarily soothing fears of imminent contagion from the debt-laden property developer.

Evergrande, Asia’s biggest junk-bond issuer, is so entangled with China’s broader economy that its fate has kept global stock and bond markets on tenterhooks as late debt payments could trigger so-called cross-defaults.

Many financial institutions have exposure to Evergrande through direct loans and indirect holdings, while any defaults will also trigger sell-offs in the high-yield credit market.

In an effort to reassure investors, the People’s Bank of China’s injected 90 billion yuan to the banking system, signalling support for markets as they braced for what is expected to be one of China’s largest-ever debt restructurings.

Evergrande is scrambling to avoid defaulting on a number of bonds with payments due this week and its main unit, Hengda Real Estate Group, said on Wednesday it had “resolved” one coupon payment due on Thursday on its Shenzhen-traded 5.8% September 2025 bond, via “private negotiations”.

It did not specify how much interest would be paid or when, nor did Hengda mention Evergrande’s other pressing debts, leaving it unclear what this means for $83.5 million in dollar bond interest payments due on Thursday.

Evergrande did not immediately respond to questions about its deal or its intentions.

But engagement with bondholders, a common way to avoid default, on top of chairman Hui Ka Yuan’s vow this week that Evergrande would “walk out of its darkest moment,” cheered investors and soothed markets more broadly.

“These events seem to suggest that the company is taking control of the situation and is trying its best to work out a solution with creditors,” Singapore-based Dexter Tan, a senior fixed income analyst at Bondsupermart.com, said.

Evergrande, which epitomised the borrow-to-build business model and was once China’s top-selling developer, also has a $47.5 million dollar-bond interest payment due next week.

“We do not have a clearer picture as how Evergrande settled its onshore coupon,” Singapore-based Chuanyi Zhou, a credit analyst at Lucror Analytics, said.

“It doesn’t look like a cash payment. It may still miss the coupon on offshore bonds due tomorrow.”

Evergrande’s woes have seen its shares fall 85% this year. The concerns have reverberated throughout China’s property market.

Shares of R&F Properties and Sunac China have both slumped around 50% year-to-date, Shimao is down more than 40% and Country Garden and Greenland Holdings have shed 30% and 20%, respectively.

Evergrande’s Hong Kong shares did not trade due to a public holiday but rose 40% in Frankfurt to 0.38 euros ($0.45).

Its dollar bonds maturing next year and in 2024 remained below 30 cents on the dollar.

In the wider market, the U.S. dollar slipped while the S&P 500 rebounded from recent losses.

BREAKDOWN

Analysts have been downplaying the risk that a collapse threatens a “Lehman moment”, or liquidity crunch, which freezes the financial system and spreads globally.

Only some $20 billion of $305 billion outstanding debts is owed offshore, according to Refinitiv data.

But the risk of failure remains high, particularly if offshore bondholders are less willing than those in China to cut deals, and the fallout has already begun to trigger tremors in the property market of the world’s second-largest economy.

“There are now comparisons being made between Evergrande with the collapse (of) Lehman Brothers and the crash in the U.S. housing market, with many analysts dismissing this comparison,” wrote Sebastien Galy of Nordea Asset Management in a recent note. “The reality is that it will take weeks to figure out the impact on growth given the impact on the real estate market.”

There is also mounting political pressure to act as the anger of retail investors with their savings sunk in Evergrande properties or wealth management products swells.

Asked at a regular daily briefing on Wednesday whether China would take measures to intervene, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian only referred to the “responsible departments”.

Some funds have been increasing their positions in recent months. BlackRock and investment banks HSBC and UBS have been among the largest buyers of Evergrande’s debt, Morningstar and a blog post showed.

Other bondholders include UBS Asset Management and Amundi, Europe’s largest asset manager.

Still, many market participants believe the fallout from Evergrande is likely to be contained.

“Despite the worry, so far this looks like a corporate bankruptcy and not something worse,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network in a recent note. “It’s a big one, to be sure, but one that can be handled within the system.” — Reuters

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized a booster dose of the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for those 65 and older, all people at high risk of severe disease, and others who are regularly exposed to the virus.

The decision paves the way for a quick rollout of the booster shots as soon as this week for millions of people who had their second dose of the vaccine at least six months ago.

The change to the vaccine’s emergency use authorization will allow boosters for groups such as health-care workers, teachers and day care staff, grocery workers and those in homeless shelters or prisons, FDA acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a statement.

Pfizer had asked the FDA to expand its vaccine approval to include boosters for all people aged 16 and older and presented data last week to an outside FDA panel of advisers that it said showed waning immunity over time.

The panel voted against the proposition that boosters were needed by everyone but said evidence showed they were helpful to older people and those at high risk.

Dr. William Schaffner, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID), said the FDA’s statement was more expansive in who it included as eligible for boosters when compared to the panel’s recommendation.

“Very broad indeed, especially that ‘among others.’ That could essentially give the green light for giving boosters to a very substantial proportion of the previously vaccinated adult population,” said Schaffner, who serves as the NFID’s liaison to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

ACIP could vote Thursday on the use of a third shot of the vaccine, an agency official said at a public meeting of the panel on Wednesday.

“Tomorrow’s ACIP meeting at the CDC will be focused on turning this into an official recommendation for implementation,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security.

The FDA authorization was “generally in line” with the advisory panel vote, said Dr. Jesse Goodman, an infectious disease expert at Georgetown University in Washington and former chief scientist at the FDA.

“These are pretty broad categories that give a fair amount of latitude to the judgment of healthcare providers and people providing immunizations,” he added.

President Joe Biden and eight top health officials including Woodcock announced in August the government’s intention to roll out booster shots for people aged 16 and older this week, pending approval by the FDA and CDC.

But the advisory panel said there was not enough evidence to support booster shots for that population and also sought more safety data. The FDA does not have to follow the advisory panel’s recommendation, but often does.

The agency could revisit the issue for a broader authorization in the future.

“This first FDA authorization of a COVID-19 vaccine booster is a critical milestone in the ongoing fight against this disease,” said Pfizer chief Albert Bourla. The company had argued that boosters are needed for the general population.

Top FDA members have been split on the need for boosters for the general population, with Woodcock backing them while some of the agency’s senior scientists argued that current evidence does not support them.

Some countries, including Israel and Britain, have already rolled out COVID-19 booster campaigns. The United States authorized extra shots for people with compromised immune systems last month and over 2 million people have already received a third shot, CDC data showed. — Reuters