Abstract
Background: RNA vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have demonstrated ∼95% efficacy in phase III clinical trials. Although complete vaccination consisted of 2 doses, the onset of protection for both licensed RNA vaccines was observed as early as 12 days after a single dose. The adaptive immune response that coincides with this onset of protection could represent the necessary elements of immunity against COVID-19.
Methods: Serological and T cell analysis was performed in a cohort of 20 healthcare workers after receiving the first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech BNT162b2 vaccine. The primary endpoint was the adaptive immune responses detectable at days 7 and 10 after dosing.
Findings: Spike-specific T cells and binding antibodies were detectable 10 days after the first dose of the vaccine, in contrast to receptor-blocking and severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) neutralizing antibodies, which were mostly undetectable at this early time point.
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that early T cell and binding antibody responses, rather than either receptor-blocking or virus neutralizing activity, induced early protection against COVID-19.
Funding: The study was funded by a generous donation from The Hour Glass to support COVID-19 research.
Keywords: COVID-19; RNA vaccine; T cells; binding antibodies; neutralizing antibodies; vaccine efficacy.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Neutralizing antibodies, T cells, vaccine efficacy, binding antibodies, RNA vaccine, 【초록키워드】 coronavirus disease, SARS-CoV-2, Coronavirus disease 2019, Efficacy, Vaccine, BNT162b2 vaccine, vaccination, Immunity, Neutralizing antibodies, RNA vaccines, T cells, vaccine efficacy, clinical trials, virus, healthcare worker, RNA, BNT162b2, Severe acute respiratory syndrome, Neutralizing activity, Cohort, T cell, glass, immune responses, Neutralizing, Adaptive immune response, respiratory, binding antibodies, RNA vaccine, single dose, binding, Pfizer/BioNTech, primary endpoint, Analysis, adaptive immune responses, binding antibody, Support, acute respiratory syndrome, first dose, hour, doses, COVID-19 research, element, Phase III clinical trials, Complete, responses, detectable, receiving, was performed, demonstrated, the vaccine, undetectable, 【제목키워드】 Efficacy, T cell, response, binding antibody, with COVID-19,