Lower vaccine-acquired immunity in the elderly population following two-dose BNT162b2 vaccination is alleviated by a third vaccine dose

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 4615 - 16
• Main Authors: Renia, Laurent, Goh, Yun Shan, Rouers, Angeline, Le Bert, Nina, Chia, Wan Ni, Chavatte, Jean-Marc, Fong, Siew‐Wai, Chang, Zi Wei, Zhuo, Nicole Ziyi, Tay, Matthew Zirui, Chan, Yi-Hao, Tan, Chee Wah, Yeo, Nicholas Kim‐Wah, Amrun, Siti Naqiah, Huang, Yuling, Wong, Joel Xu En, Hor, Pei Xiang, Loh, Chiew Yee, Wang, Bei, Ngoh, Eve Zi Xian, Salleh, Siti Nazihah Mohd, Carissimo, Guillaume, Dowla, Samanzer, Lim, Alicia Jieling, Zhang, Jinyan, Lim, Joey Ming Er, Wang, Cheng-I., Ding, Ying, Pada, Surinder, Sun, Louisa Jin, Somani, Jyoti, Lee, Eng Sing, Ong, Desmond Luan Seng, Leo, Yee‐Sin, MacAry, Paul A., Lin, Raymond Tzer Pin, Wang, Lin-Fa, Ren, Ee Chee, Lye, David C., Bertoletti, Antonio, Young, Barnaby Edward, Ng, Lisa F. P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 08.08.2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 13/1; 13/31; 49/109; 631/250/2152/1566/1571; 631/250/2152/2153/1291; 631/250/255/2514; 631/250/590/2293; 631/326/596/4130; Adaptive immunity; Age; Aged; Antibodies; Antibodies, Viral; Antibody Formation; BNT162 Vaccine; COVID-19; COVID-19 - prevention & control; COVID-19 Vaccines; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Immune response; Immune system; Immunity; Immunological memory; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; Middle Aged; mRNA; mRNA Vaccines; multidisciplinary; Older people; SARS-CoV-2; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Spike protein; Strain analysis; Vaccination; Vaccines; Vaccines, Synthetic; Viral Vaccines
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32312-1

Understanding the impact of age on vaccinations is essential for the design and delivery of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. Here, we present findings from a comprehensive analysis of multiple compartments of the memory immune response in 312 individuals vaccinated with the BNT162b2 SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine. Two vaccine doses induce high antibody and T cell responses in most individuals. However, antibody recognition of the Spike protein of the Delta and Omicron variants is less efficient than that of the ancestral Wuhan strain. Age-stratified analyses identify a group of low antibody responders where individuals ≥60 years are overrepresented. Waning of the antibody and cellular responses is observed in 30% of the vaccinees after 6 months. However, age does not influence the waning of these responses. Taken together, while individuals ≥60 years old take longer to acquire vaccine-induced immunity, they develop more sustained acquired immunity at 6 months post-vaccination. A third dose strongly boosts the low antibody responses in the older individuals against the ancestral Wuhan strain, Delta and Omicron variants. Responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in different populations are important to define efficacy. Here the authors show using a cohort in Singapore that two doses of mRNA vaccine is less effective in recipients over 60 years of age and that a further dose of vaccine can improve these antibody levels.