AI Article Synopsis

  • Research indicates that understanding how prior SARS-CoV-2 infection affects mRNA vaccination responses in the elderly is crucial for determining the need for booster shots.
  • In a study involving 16 elderly participants who received a single booster dose of the BNT162b vaccine, antibody levels rose dramatically from an average of 710 U/ml to over 40,000 U/ml within ten weeks post-vaccination.
  • In contrast, a comparison group of younger, uninfected individuals exhibited lower antibody levels, and their immune response was transient, while the elderly group displayed a more robust and lasting immune response.

Article Abstract

Knowledge about the impact of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection of the elderly on mRNA vaccination response is needed to appropriately address the need for booster vaccination in this vulnerable population. To address this, we investigated antibody and genomic immune responses in 16 elderly (avg. 81 yrs.) individuals that had received a single booster dose of BNT162b vaccine 15 months after recovering from COVID-19. Spike-specific IgG antibody levels increased in each of the study participants from an average of 710 U/ml prior to the vaccination to more than 40,000 U/ml within ten weeks after the vaccination. In contrast, anti-spike-specific IgG antibody levels averaged 2,190 U/ml in 14 healthy SARS-CoV-2-naïve individuals (avg. 58 yrs.) ten weeks after the second dose of BNT162b. RNA-seq conducted on PBMCs demonstrated the activation of interferon-activated genetic programs in both cohorts within one day. Unlike their transient induction in the younger naïve population, persistent activity and the initiation of additional cell cycle regulated programs were obtained in the older COVID-19 recovered population. Here we show that the elderly, a high-risk population, can mount a strong antibody and a persistent molecular immune response upon receiving a single dose of mRNA vaccine 15 months after recovery from COVID-19.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8452113PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.09.08.21263284DOI Listing

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