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Extension of the interval between vaccine doses for the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine was introduced in the United Kingdom to accelerate population coverage with a single dose. At this time, trial data were lacking, and we addressed this in a study of United Kingdom healthcare workers. The first vaccine dose induced protection from infection from the circulating alpha (B.1.1.7) variant over several weeks. In a substudy of 589 individuals, we show that this single dose induces severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) neutralizing antibody (NAb) responses and a sustained B and T cell response to the spike protein. NAb levels were higher after the extended dosing interval (6-14 weeks) compared with the conventional 3- to 4-week regimen, accompanied by enrichment of CD4+ T cells expressing interleukin-2 (IL-2). Prior SARS-CoV-2 infection amplified and accelerated the response. These data on dynamic cellular and humoral responses indicate that extension of the dosing interval is an effective immunogenic protocol.

Original publication

DOI

10.1016/j.cell.2021.10.011

Type

Journal article

Journal

Cell

Publication Date

11/11/2021

Volume

184

Pages

5699 - 5714.e11

Keywords

B cell, BNT162b2, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, T cell, antibody, dosing interval, neutralization, vaccine, variants of concern, Adult, Aged, Antibodies, Neutralizing, Antibodies, Viral, BNT162 Vaccine, COVID-19, COVID-19 Vaccines, Cross-Priming, Dose-Response Relationship, Immunologic, Ethnicity, Female, Humans, Immunity, Immunoglobulin G, Linear Models, Male, Middle Aged, Reference Standards, SARS-CoV-2, T-Lymphocytes, Treatment Outcome, Vaccines, Synthetic, Young Adult