Older adults mount less durable humoral responses to two doses of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine but strong initial responses to a third dose
- DOI
- Language of the publication
- English
- Date
- 2022-09-21
- Type
- Article
- Author(s)
- Mwimanzi, Francis
- Cheung, Peter K.
- Sang, Yurou
- Yaseen, Fatima
- Umviligihozo, Gisele
- Kalikawe, Rebecca
- Datwani, Sneha
- Omondi, F. Harrison
- Burns, Laura
- Young, Landon
- Leung, Victor
- Agafitei, Olga
- Ennis, Siobhan
- Dong, Winnie
- Basra, Simran
- Lim, Li Yi
- Ng, Kurtis
- Pantophlet, Ralph
- Brumme, Chanson J.
- Montaner, Julio S. G.
- Prystajecky, Natalie
- Lowe, Christopher F.
- DeMarco, Mari L.
- Holmes, Daniel T.
- Simons, Janet
- Niikura, Masahiro
- Romney, Marc G.
- Brumme, Zabrina L.
- Brockman, Mark A.
- Brockman, Mark A.
- Publisher
- Infectious Diseases Society of America
Abstract
Background Methods Results Conclusions
Third coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine doses are broadly recommended, but immunogenicity data remain limited, particularly in older adults.
We measured circulating antibodies against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein receptor-binding domain, ACE2 displacement, and virus neutralization against ancestral and omicron (BA.1) strains from prevaccine up to 1 month following the third dose, in 151 adults aged 24–98 years who received COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.
Following 2 vaccine doses, humoral immunity was weaker, less functional, and less durable in older adults, where a higher number of chronic health conditions was a key correlate of weaker responses and poorer durability. One month after the third dose, antibody concentrations and function exceeded post–second-dose levels, and responses in older adults were comparable in magnitude to those in younger adults at this time. Humoral responses against omicron were universally weaker than against the ancestral strain after both the second and third doses. Nevertheless, after 3 doses, anti-omicron responses in older adults reached equivalence to those in younger adults. One month after 3 vaccine doses, the number of chronic health conditions, but not age, was the strongest consistent correlate of weaker humoral responses.
Results underscore the immune benefits of third COVID-19 vaccine doses, particularly in older adults.
Subject
- Health,
- Coronavirus diseases,
- Immunization
Rights
Pagination
983-994
Peer review
Yes
Open access level
Gold
Identifiers
- PubMed ID
- 35543278
- ISSN
- 1537-6613
Article
- Journal title
- The Journal of Infectious Diseases
- Journal volume
- 226
- Journal issue
- 6
Sponsors
This work was supported by the Public Health Agency of Canada (grant number 2020-HQ-000120 COVID-19 Immunology Task Force COVID-19 Hot Spots Award to M. G. R., Z. L. B., and M. A. B.); the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (grant numbers GA2-177713 and FRN-175622 Coronavirus Variants Rapid Response Network to M. A. B.); the Canada Foundation for Innovation (Exceptional Opportunities Fund-COVID-19 awards to M. A. B., M. D., M. N., R. P., and Z. L. B.); and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health (grant number R01AI134229 to R. P.). M. L. D and Z. L. B. hold Scholar Awards from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. F. Y. and L. Y. L. were supported by Simon Fraser University Undergraduate Research Awards. G. U. and F. H. O. hold PhD fellowships from the Sub-Saharan African Network for TB/HIV Research Excellence, a Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science (DELTAS) Africa initiative (grant number DEL-15-006). The DELTAS Africa initiative is an independent funding scheme of the African Academy of Sciences’s Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa and supported by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development Planning and Coordinating Agency with funding from the Wellcome Trust (grant number 107752/Z/15/Z) and the UK Government. Funding to pay the Open Access publication charges for this article was provided by the Public Health Agency of Canada.