Reduced magnitude and durability of humoral immune responses to COVID-19 mRNA vaccines among older adults
- DOI
- Language of the publication
- English
- Date
- 2022-04
- Type
- Article
- Author(s)
- Brockman, Mark A.
- Lapointe, Hope R
- Sang, Yurou
- Agafitei, Olga
- Cheung, Peter K.
- Ennis, Siobhan
- Ng, Kurtis
- Basra, Simran
- Lim, Li Yi
- Yaseen, Fatima
- Young, Landon
- Umviligihozo, Gisele
- Omondi, F. Harrison
- Kalikawe, Rebecca
- Burns, Laura
- Brumme, Chanson J.
- Leung, Victor
- Montaner, Julio S. G.
- Holmes, Daniel
- Simons, Janet
- DeMarco, Mari L.
- Pantophlet, Ralph
- Niikura, Masahiro
- Romney, Marc G.
- Brumme, Zabrina L.
- Brumme, Zabrina L.
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
Abstract
Background Methods Results Conclusions
The magnitude and durability of immune responses to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mRNA vaccines remain incompletely characterized in the elderly.
Anti-spike receptor-binding domain (RBD) antibodies, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) competition, and virus neutralizing activities were assessed in plasma from 151 health care workers and older adults (range, 24–98 years of age) 1 month following the first vaccine dose, and 1 and 3 months following the second dose.
Older adults exhibited significantly weaker responses than younger health care workers for all humoral measures evaluated and at all time points tested, except for ACE2 competition activity after 1 vaccine dose. Moreover, older age remained independently associated with weaker responses even after correction for sociodemographic factors, chronic health condition burden, and vaccine-related variables. By 3 months after the second dose, all humoral responses had declined significantly in all participants, and remained significantly lower among older adults, who also displayed reduced binding antibodies and ACE2 competition activity towards the Delta variant.
Humoral responses to COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are significantly weaker in older adults, and antibody-mediated activities in plasma decline universally over time. Older adults may thus remain at elevated risk of infection despite vaccination.
Subject
- Health,
- Coronavirus diseases,
- Immunization
Rights
Pagination
1129-1140
Peer review
Yes
Identifiers
- PubMed ID
- 34888688
- ISSN
- 1537-6613
Article
- Journal title
- The Journal of Infectious Diseases
- Journal volume
- 225
- Journal issue
- 7
Sponsors
This work was supported by the Public Health Agency of Canada (grant number 2021-HQ-000120 COVID-19 Immunology Task Force COVID-19 Hot Spots Award to M. A. B., Z. L. B., and M. G. R.); the Canada Foundation for Innovation (Exceptional Opportunities Fund—COVID-19 award to M. A. B., M. N., M. L. D., 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.). G. U. and F. H. O. are supported by PhD fellowships from the Sub-Saharan African Network for TB/HIV Research Excellence, a DELTAS Africa Initiative (grant number DEL-15-006). The DELTAS Africa Initiative is an independent funding scheme of the AAS Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa and supported by the NEPAD Agency with funding from the Wellcome Trust (grant number 107752/Z/15/Z) and the UK Government. L. Y. L. was supported by a Simon Fraser University Undergraduate Research Award. M. L. D. and Z. L. B. hold Scholar Awards from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research.