Lower vaccine-acquired immunity in the elderly population following two-dose BNT162b2 vaccination is alleviated by a third vaccine dose.
Laurent ReniaYun Shan GohAngéline RouersNina Le BertWan Ni ChiaJean-Marc ChavatteSiew-Wai FongZi Wei ChangNicole Ziyi ZhuoMatthew Zirui TayYi-Hao ChanChee Wah TanNicholas Kim-Wah YeoSiti Naqiah AmrunYuling HuangJoel Xu En WongPei Xiang HorChiew Yee LohBei WangEve Zi Xian NgohSiti Nazihah Mohd SallehGuillaume CarissimoSamanzer DowlaAlicia Jieling LimJinyan ZhangJoey Ming Er LimCheng-I WangYing DingSurinder PadaLouisa Jin SunJyoti SomaniEng Sing LeeDesmond Luan Seng Ongnull nullYee Sin LeoPaul A MacAryRaymond Tzer Pin LinLin-Fa WangEe Chee RenDavid C LyeAntonio BertolettiBarnaby Edward YoungLisa F P NgPublished in: Nature communications (2022)
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.