1. First-dose mRNA vaccination is sufficient to reactivate immunological memory to SARS-CoV-2 in subjects who have recovered from COVID-19
- Author
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Seble Tekle Kiros, Francesco Annunziato, Giulia Lamacchia, Lorenzo Salvati, Lorenzo Zammarchi, Lorenzo Cosmi, Lucia Turco, Cristina Scaletti, Paola Parronchi, Alessio Mazzoni, Manuela Capone, Michele Spinicci, Arianna Rocca, Filippo Lagi, Gian Maria Rossolini, Alessandro Bartoloni, Francesco Liotta, Laura Maggi, Nicoletta Di Lauria, Anna Vanni, Maria Grazia Colao, and Elisabetta Mantengoli
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,0301 basic medicine ,COVID-19 Vaccines ,Vaccination schedule ,Antibodies, Viral ,Serology ,Herd immunity ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Immune system ,Humans ,Medicine ,BNT162 Vaccine ,Aged ,biology ,SARS-CoV-2 ,business.industry ,Concise Communication ,COVID-19 ,General Medicine ,Middle Aged ,Acquired immune system ,Antibodies, Neutralizing ,Immunity, Humoral ,Vaccination ,030104 developmental biology ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Cohort ,Immunology ,biology.protein ,Female ,Antibody ,business ,Immunologic Memory - Abstract
The characterization of the adaptive immune response to COVID-19 vaccination in individuals who recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection may define current and future clinical practice. To determine the effect of the 2-dose BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccination schedule in individuals who recovered from COVID-19 (COVID-19–recovered subjects) compared with naive subjects, we evaluated SARS-CoV-2 Spike–specific T and B cell responses, as well as specific IgA, IgG, IgM, and neutralizing antibodies titers in 22 individuals who received the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, 11 of whom had a previous history of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Evaluations were performed before vaccination and then weekly until 7 days after second injection. Data obtained clearly showed that one vaccine dose is sufficient to increase both cellular and humoral immune response in COVID-19–recovered subjects without any additional improvement after the second dose. On the contrary, the second dose proved mandatory in naive subjects to further enhance the immune response. These findings were further confirmed at the serological level in a larger cohort of naive (n = 68) and COVID-19–recovered (n = 29) subjects, tested up to 50 days after vaccination. These results question whether a second vaccine injection in COVID-19–recovered subjects is required, and indicate that millions of vaccine doses may be redirected to naive individuals, thus shortening the time to reach herd immunity.
- Published
- 2021