BNT162b2 Vaccination Elicits Strong Serological Immune Responses Against SARS-CoV-2 Including Variants of Concern in Elderly Convalescents.

Bernd Jahrsdörfer,Aline Grempels,Guido Adler,Sixten Körper,Dorit Fabricius,Carolin Ludwig,Judith Scholz,Hubert Schrezenmeier,Ramin Lotfi

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2021.743422

Bernd Jahrsdörfer, Aline Grempels + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.743422

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Abstract

Elderly residents of long-term care facilities (LTCFs) have long been underrepresented in studies on vaccine efficacy, particularly in light of currently emerging variants of concern (VOCs). In this prospective observational cohort study, we analyzed serological immune responses in 190 individuals before, 3 weeks after 1st and 3 weeks after 2nd vaccination with BNT162b2. Unvaccinated COVID-19-convalescent subjects served as reference. End points comprised serum anti-spike IgG and IgA titers as well as neutralization capacities against unmutated and mutated SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domains including B.1.1.7, B.1.351 and P.1. We found that antibody titers and neutralization capacities up to 3 weeks after 2nd vaccination with BNT162b2 were significantly higher in COVID-19-convalescent as compared to COVID-19-naive vaccinees. Moreover, pre-vaccination anti-NCP IgG titers, but not age or gender, had a high impact on the strength and kinetics of post-vaccination neutralization capacity development. Most importantly, BNT162b2-induced neutralization capacity was cross-reactive with VOCs. In contrast to unvaccinated convalescents, vaccinated convalescent individuals of all ages acquired strong neutralizing capacities against current VOCs. The present study suggests that COVID-19-convalescent individuals with a broad age range between 18 and 98 years benefit from BNT162b2 vaccination by developing strong and broad neutralizing immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 including current VOCs.

Highlights

A number of studies provide evidence for the development of a rapid and efficient anti-SARS-CoV-2 immune response after single dose vaccination against SARS-COV-2 in COVID-19convalescent individuals [1,2,3,4,5,6]
It was conducted from March to May 2021 in five long-term care facilities (LCTFs), in which up to 90% of residents and up to 70% of health care professionals (HCPs) had prior SARS-COV-2 infections between January 2020 and February 2021
A total of 203 individuals including 48% residents and 52% healthcare professionals (HCPs) from five long-term care facilities were recruited and serological immune responses monitored in the course of vaccination with the mRNA vaccine BNT162b2

Summary

Introduction

A number of studies provide evidence for the development of a rapid and efficient anti-SARS-CoV-2 immune response after single dose vaccination against SARS-COV-2 in COVID-19convalescent individuals [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Most of these studies enrolled health care professionals (HCPs) with a median age between 35 and 45 years. After launch of the Danish immunization program against SARSCoV-2, a second observational cohort study with more than 39.000 LTCF residents revealed that a two-dose regimen with the mRNA vaccine BNT162b2 provided a high protective effect in elderly individuals [14]

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