MRNA vaccination in people over 80 years of age induces strong humoral immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 with cross neutralisation of P.1 Brazilian variant

Helen Parry; Gokhan Tut; Rachel Bruton; Sian Faustini; Christine Stephens; Philip Saunders; Christopher Bentley; Katherine Hilyard; Kevin Brown; Gayatri Amirthalingam; Sue Charlton; Stephanie Leung; Emily Chiplin; Naomi S. Coombes; Kevin R. Bewley; Elizabeth J. Penn; Cathy Rowe; Ashley Otter; Rosie Watts; Silvia D’Arcangelo; Bassam Hallis; Andrew Makin; Alex Richter; Jianmin Zuo; Paul Moss

doi:10.7554/eLife.69375

MRNA vaccination in people over 80 years of age induces strong humoral immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 with cross neutralisation of P.1 Brazilian variant

Helen Parry, Gokhan Tut, Rachel Bruton, Sian Faustini, Christine Stephens, Philip Saunders, Christopher Bentley, Katherine Hilyard, Kevin Brown, Gayatri Amirthalingam, Sue Charlton, Stephanie Leung, Emily Chiplin, Naomi S. Coombes, Kevin R. Bewley, Elizabeth J. Penn, Cathy Rowe, Ashley Otter, Rosie Watts, Silvia D’ArcangeloBassam Hallis, Andrew Makin, Alex Richter, Jianmin Zuo, Paul Moss^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Age is the major risk factor for mortality after SARS-CoV-2 infection and older people have received priority consideration for COVID-19 vaccination. However vaccine responses are often suboptimal in this age group and few people over the age of 80 years were included in vaccine registration trials. We determined the serological and cellular response to spike protein in 100 people aged 80-96 years at 2 weeks after second vaccination with the Pfizer BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine. Antibody responses were seen in every donor with high titres in 98%. Spike-specific cellular immune responses were detectable in only 63% and correlated with humoral response. Previous SARS-CoV-2 infection substantially increased antibody responses after one vaccine and antibody and cellular responses remained 28-fold and 3-fold higher respectively after dual vaccination. Post-vaccine sera mediated strong neutralisation of live Victoria infection and although neutralisation titres were reduced 14- fold against the P.1 variant first discovered in Brazil they remained largely effective. These data demonstrate that the mRNA vaccine platform delivers strong humoral immunity in people up to 96 years of age and retains broad efficacy against the P.1 Variant of Concern. Funding This work was partially supported by the UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium (UK-CIC) funded by DHSC/UKRI and the National Core Studies Immunity programme.

Original language	English
Article number	e69375
Journal	eLife
Volume	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.69375
Publication status	Published - 29 Sept 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information: National Core Studies: Immunity programme:
Authors: Paul Moss, Helen Parry, Gokhan Tut, Sian Faustini, Christine Stephens, Rachel Bruton.
UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium: UKRI/DHSC Paul Moss:
Authors: Helen Parry, Gokhan Tut, Sian Faustini, Christine Stephens, Rachel Bruton.

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Andrew Makin: is affiliated with Oxford Immunotec Ltd. The author has no financial interests to declare. The other authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Open Access: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

Publisher Copyright: © 2021, Parry et al.

Citation: Parry, Helen, et al. "mRNA vaccination in people over 80 years of age induces strong humoral immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 with cross neutralisation of P. 1 Brazilian variant." Elife 10 (2021): e69375.

DOI: 10.7554/eLife.69375

Keywords

Ageing
Antibody
COVID
Immunisation
Immunosenescence
Neutralisation
SARS-CoV-2
T-cell
Vaccination
Variant

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Parry2021mRNAVaccinationInPeopleOver80YearsOfAgeInducesELifeFinal published version, 3.75 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Parry, H., Tut, G., Bruton, R., Faustini, S., Stephens, C., Saunders, P., Bentley, C., Hilyard, K., Brown, K., Amirthalingam, G., Charlton, S., Leung, S., Chiplin, E., Coombes, N. S., Bewley, K. R., Penn, E. J., Rowe, C., Otter, A., Watts, R., ... Moss, P. (2021). MRNA vaccination in people over 80 years of age induces strong humoral immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 with cross neutralisation of P.1 Brazilian variant. eLife, 10, Article e69375. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.69375

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abstract = "Age is the major risk factor for mortality after SARS-CoV-2 infection and older people have received priority consideration for COVID-19 vaccination. However vaccine responses are often suboptimal in this age group and few people over the age of 80 years were included in vaccine registration trials. We determined the serological and cellular response to spike protein in 100 people aged 80-96 years at 2 weeks after second vaccination with the Pfizer BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine. Antibody responses were seen in every donor with high titres in 98%. Spike-specific cellular immune responses were detectable in only 63% and correlated with humoral response. Previous SARS-CoV-2 infection substantially increased antibody responses after one vaccine and antibody and cellular responses remained 28-fold and 3-fold higher respectively after dual vaccination. Post-vaccine sera mediated strong neutralisation of live Victoria infection and although neutralisation titres were reduced 14- fold against the P.1 variant first discovered in Brazil they remained largely effective. These data demonstrate that the mRNA vaccine platform delivers strong humoral immunity in people up to 96 years of age and retains broad efficacy against the P.1 Variant of Concern. Funding This work was partially supported by the UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium (UK-CIC) funded by DHSC/UKRI and the National Core Studies Immunity programme.",

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author = "Helen Parry and Gokhan Tut and Rachel Bruton and Sian Faustini and Christine Stephens and Philip Saunders and Christopher Bentley and Katherine Hilyard and Kevin Brown and Gayatri Amirthalingam and Sue Charlton and Stephanie Leung and Emily Chiplin and Coombes, {Naomi S.} and Bewley, {Kevin R.} and Penn, {Elizabeth J.} and Cathy Rowe and Ashley Otter and Rosie Watts and Silvia D{\textquoteright}Arcangelo and Bassam Hallis and Andrew Makin and Alex Richter and Jianmin Zuo and Paul Moss",

note = "Funding Information: National Core Studies: Immunity programme: Authors: Paul Moss, Helen Parry, Gokhan Tut, Sian Faustini, Christine Stephens, Rachel Bruton. UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium: UKRI/DHSC Paul Moss: Authors: Helen Parry, Gokhan Tut, Sian Faustini, Christine Stephens, Rachel Bruton. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication. Andrew Makin: is affiliated with Oxford Immunotec Ltd. The author has no financial interests to declare. The other authors declare that no competing interests exist. Open Access: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021, Parry et al. Citation: Parry, Helen, et al. {"}mRNA vaccination in people over 80 years of age induces strong humoral immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 with cross neutralisation of P. 1 Brazilian variant.{"} Elife 10 (2021): e69375. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.69375",

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Parry, H, Tut, G, Bruton, R, Faustini, S, Stephens, C, Saunders, P, Bentley, C, Hilyard, K, Brown, K , Amirthalingam, G , Charlton, S , Leung, S, Chiplin, E, Coombes, NS , Bewley, KR, Penn, EJ, Rowe, C , Otter, A, Watts, R, D’Arcangelo, S, Hallis, B, Makin, A, Richter, A, Zuo, J & Moss, P 2021, 'MRNA vaccination in people over 80 years of age induces strong humoral immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 with cross neutralisation of P.1 Brazilian variant', eLife, vol. 10, e69375. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.69375

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T1 - MRNA vaccination in people over 80 years of age induces strong humoral immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 with cross neutralisation of P.1 Brazilian variant

AU - Parry, Helen

AU - Tut, Gokhan

AU - Bruton, Rachel

AU - Faustini, Sian

AU - Stephens, Christine

AU - Saunders, Philip

AU - Bentley, Christopher

AU - Hilyard, Katherine

AU - Brown, Kevin

AU - Amirthalingam, Gayatri

AU - Charlton, Sue

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AU - Coombes, Naomi S.

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N2 - Age is the major risk factor for mortality after SARS-CoV-2 infection and older people have received priority consideration for COVID-19 vaccination. However vaccine responses are often suboptimal in this age group and few people over the age of 80 years were included in vaccine registration trials. We determined the serological and cellular response to spike protein in 100 people aged 80-96 years at 2 weeks after second vaccination with the Pfizer BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine. Antibody responses were seen in every donor with high titres in 98%. Spike-specific cellular immune responses were detectable in only 63% and correlated with humoral response. Previous SARS-CoV-2 infection substantially increased antibody responses after one vaccine and antibody and cellular responses remained 28-fold and 3-fold higher respectively after dual vaccination. Post-vaccine sera mediated strong neutralisation of live Victoria infection and although neutralisation titres were reduced 14- fold against the P.1 variant first discovered in Brazil they remained largely effective. These data demonstrate that the mRNA vaccine platform delivers strong humoral immunity in people up to 96 years of age and retains broad efficacy against the P.1 Variant of Concern. Funding This work was partially supported by the UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium (UK-CIC) funded by DHSC/UKRI and the National Core Studies Immunity programme.

AB - Age is the major risk factor for mortality after SARS-CoV-2 infection and older people have received priority consideration for COVID-19 vaccination. However vaccine responses are often suboptimal in this age group and few people over the age of 80 years were included in vaccine registration trials. We determined the serological and cellular response to spike protein in 100 people aged 80-96 years at 2 weeks after second vaccination with the Pfizer BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine. Antibody responses were seen in every donor with high titres in 98%. Spike-specific cellular immune responses were detectable in only 63% and correlated with humoral response. Previous SARS-CoV-2 infection substantially increased antibody responses after one vaccine and antibody and cellular responses remained 28-fold and 3-fold higher respectively after dual vaccination. Post-vaccine sera mediated strong neutralisation of live Victoria infection and although neutralisation titres were reduced 14- fold against the P.1 variant first discovered in Brazil they remained largely effective. These data demonstrate that the mRNA vaccine platform delivers strong humoral immunity in people up to 96 years of age and retains broad efficacy against the P.1 Variant of Concern. Funding This work was partially supported by the UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium (UK-CIC) funded by DHSC/UKRI and the National Core Studies Immunity programme.

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KW - Antibody

KW - COVID

KW - Immunisation

KW - Immunosenescence

KW - Neutralisation

KW - SARS-CoV-2

KW - T-cell

KW - Vaccination

KW - Variant

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ER -

MRNA vaccination in people over 80 years of age induces strong humoral immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 with cross neutralisation of P.1 Brazilian variant

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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