Loss of Pfizer (BNT162b2) Vaccine-Induced Antibody Responses against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant in Adolescents and Adults.
J Virol
; 96(17): e0058222, 2022 09 14.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1992936
ABSTRACT
Emerging variants, especially the recent Omicron variant, and gaps in vaccine coverage threaten mRNA vaccine mediated protection against SARS-CoV-2. While children have been relatively spared by the ongoing pandemic, increasing case numbers and hospitalizations are now evident among children. Thus, it is essential to better understand the magnitude and breadth of vaccine-induced immunity in children against circulating viral variant of concerns (VOCs). Here, we compared the magnitude and breadth of humoral immune responses in adolescents and adults 1 month after the two-dose Pfizer (BNT162b2) vaccination. We found that adolescents (aged 11 to 16) demonstrated more robust binding antibody and neutralization responses against the wild-type SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein contained in the vaccine compared to adults (aged 27 to 55). The quality of the antibody responses against VOCs in adolescents were very similar to adults, with modest changes in binding and neutralization of Beta, Gamma, and Delta variants. In comparison, a significant reduction of binding titers and a striking lack of neutralization was observed against the newly emerging Omicron variant for both adolescents and adults. Overall, our data show that a two-dose BNT162b2 vaccine series may be insufficient to protect against the Omicron variant. IMPORTANCE While plasma binding and neutralizing antibody responses have been reported for cohorts of infected and vaccinated adults, much less is known about the vaccine-induced antibody responses to variants including Omicron in children. This illustrates the need to characterize vaccine efficacy in key vulnerable populations. A third (booster) dose of BNTb162b was approved for children 12 to 15 years of age by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 1, 2022, and pediatric clinical trials are under way to evaluate the safety, immunogenicity, and effectiveness of a third dose in younger children. Similarly, variant-specific booster doses and pan-coronavirus vaccines are areas of active research. Our data show adolescents mounted stronger humoral immune responses after vaccination than adults. It also highlights the need for future studies of antibody durability in adolescents and children as well as the need for future studies of booster vaccination and their efficacy against the Omicron variant.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
/
BNT162 Vaccine
/
Antibodies, Viral
/
Antibody Formation
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Vaccines
/
Variants
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Child
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
J Virol
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Jvi.00582-22
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