Abstract
The emergence of novel variants of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has made it more difficult to prevent the virus from spreading despite available vaccines. Reports of breakthrough infections and decreased capacity of antibodies to neutralize variants raise the question whether current vaccines can still protect against COVID-19 disease. We studied the dynamics and persistence of T cell responses using activation induced marker (AIM) assay and Th1 type cytokine production in peripheral blood mononuclear cells obtained from BNT162b2 COVID-19 mRNA vaccinated health care workers and COVID-19 patients. We demonstrate that equally high T cell responses following vaccination and infection persist at least for 6 months against Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta variants despite the decline in antibody levels.
Keywords: BNT162b2; Covid-19; T cell mediated immunity; humoral immunity; vaccine.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Vaccine, BNT162b2, Humoral immunity, T cell mediated immunity, 【초록키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, Vaccine, coronavirus, vaccination, Health care, Vaccines, antibody, health care workers, Th1, variant, Infection, cytokine, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus, delta variant, virus, variants, COVID-19 disease, Peripheral blood, BNT162b2, Humoral immunity, T cell, persistence, mRNA, T cell responses, Peripheral blood mononuclear cells, Gamma, Health care worker, Alpha, breakthrough infections, Beta, antibody levels, Breakthrough infection, respiratory, T cell response, cytokine production, COVID-19 patients, Cell mediated immunity, Delta variants, marker, humoral, mononuclear cells, mononuclear cell, acute respiratory syndrome, Activation, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, report, Prevent, neutralize, raise, PROTECT, question, more difficult, 【제목키워드】 mRNA, response,