Our paper on antibody & memory B cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 #mRNA vaccines is out @SciImmunology
- 1 vs. 2 doses?
- What about age & side effects?
- Relationships btw/ antibody & memory cells?
We look at all that & more... full #Tweetorial below

https://immunology.sciencemag.org/content/6/58/eabi6950
- 1 vs. 2 doses?
- What about age & side effects?
- Relationships btw/ antibody & memory cells?
We look at all that & more... full #Tweetorial below


https://immunology.sciencemag.org/content/6/58/eabi6950
As others (including @florian_krammer @Daltmann10 etc) have shown, folks who have recovered from COVID only need 1 dose to get peak antibody responses to full-length spike protein and the RBD. People who are SARS-CoV-2 naive need 2 doses for optimal responses
Similar data for neutralizing ability against wild-type (D614G) strain & the B.1.351 (S African) variant
2nd dose especially important in people w/o prev infx... 50/50 on neutralizing antibody against D614G & very little against B.1.351 after dose 1. Great response after dose 2
2nd dose especially important in people w/o prev infx... 50/50 on neutralizing antibody against D614G & very little against B.1.351 after dose 1. Great response after dose 2
We also looked at memory B cells using a strategy inspired by @profshanecrotty @TheBcellArtist
mRNA vax induced robust memory B cell responses to full-length spike & RBD
1 dose = peak response in recovered folks. Continued improvement w/ 2nd dose in the SARS-CoV-2 naive group
mRNA vax induced robust memory B cell responses to full-length spike & RBD
1 dose = peak response in recovered folks. Continued improvement w/ 2nd dose in the SARS-CoV-2 naive group
In SARS-CoV-2 naive individuals, these memory cells continue to improve over time. Increase in % of IgG+ cells and also a focusing of the response on the RBD
Recovered individuals again get little qualitative benefit to their B cell response from 2nd dose
Recovered individuals again get little qualitative benefit to their B cell response from 2nd dose
Another question we get a lot: how does age affect vaccine response?
There is a slight negative trend btw/ age and antibodies
We do see a stronger association btw/ age and memory B cells post-boost, but everyone is still over baseline so something to keep an eye on longer-term
There is a slight negative trend btw/ age and antibodies
We do see a stronger association btw/ age and memory B cells post-boost, but everyone is still over baseline so something to keep an eye on longer-term
What about side effects? Turns out you do get some benefit to your antibody response if you had systemic symptoms (i.e fever, chills). No pain, no gain...
But side effects do not impact the generation of memory cells. And even w/o side effects, everybody had a great response
But side effects do not impact the generation of memory cells. And even w/o side effects, everybody had a great response
Relationships btw these different measures of immunity: do antibodies predict memory (or vice versa)?
Turns out that just measuring post-boost antibodies doesn't tell us much about memory. BUT baseline memory does predict antibody recall upon re-exposure in recovered folks
Turns out that just measuring post-boost antibodies doesn't tell us much about memory. BUT baseline memory does predict antibody recall upon re-exposure in recovered folks
So what are the take-home points:
1) Probably ok to delay or skip 2nd dose in individuals who previously had COVID
2) 2nd dose important for the quality of immune response in previously uninfected individuals
3) Some association of age & side-effects w/ vaccine response
1) Probably ok to delay or skip 2nd dose in individuals who previously had COVID
2) 2nd dose important for the quality of immune response in previously uninfected individuals
3) Some association of age & side-effects w/ vaccine response
Check out the full paper for more analysis: https://immunology.sciencemag.org/content/6/58/eabi6950
Massive thanks to the whole @Penn_IFI @PennMedicine team led by @EJohnWherry @SCOTTeHENSLEY & co, as well as co-first authors @s_apostolidis @markmpainter @divijmathew. Nobody does team science better than @Penn
Massive thanks to the whole @Penn_IFI @PennMedicine team led by @EJohnWherry @SCOTTeHENSLEY & co, as well as co-first authors @s_apostolidis @markmpainter @divijmathew. Nobody does team science better than @Penn