Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Mar;26(12):2100329.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.12.2100329.

Robust antibody responses in 70-80-year-olds 3 weeks after the first or second doses of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, United Kingdom, January to February 2021

Sathyavani Subbarao  1 , Lenesha A Warrener  2 , Katja Hoschler  2 , Keith R Perry  2 , Justin Shute  2 , Heather Whitaker  3 , Michelle O'Brien  4 , Frances Baawuah  1   4 , Paul Moss  5 , Helen Parry  5 , Shamez N Ladhani  1   6 , Mary E Ramsay  1 , Kevin E Brown  1 , Gayatri Amirthalingam  1
Affiliations

Robust antibody responses in 70-80-year-olds 3 weeks after the first or second doses of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, United Kingdom, January to February 2021

Sathyavani Subbarao et al. Euro Surveill. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

Sera were collected from 185 adults aged ≥ 70 years in London to evaluate the immune response to COVID-19 vaccines. A single dose of Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine resulted in > 94% seropositivity after 3 weeks in naïve individuals using the Roche Spike antibody assay, while two doses produced very high spike antibody levels, significantly higher than convalescent sera from mild-to-moderate PCR-confirmed adult cases. Our findings support the United Kingdom's approach of prioritising the first dose and delaying the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

Keywords: Antibody; COVID-19; COVID-Vaccine; Immunity; Pfizer/BioNtech; Spike Protein.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels in RBD and Roche S assays by age group, N antibody status and vaccine dose, London, United Kingdom, January–February 2021 (n = 185)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Reverse cumulative distribution plot of log (base 10) RBD or Roche S assay measurements in N-negative CONSENSUS participants by vaccine and convalescent sera, indicating relative antibody levels, London, United Kingdom, January–February 2021 (n = 285)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. GOV.UK. Optimising the COVID-19 vaccination programme for maximum short-term impact. London: Department of Health and Social Care; 2021. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prioritising-the-first-covid-...
    1. Public Health England (PHE). Evaluation of the Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG for the detection of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. London: PHE; 2020. Available from: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...
    1. Public Health England (PHE). Evaluation of Roche Elecsys AntiSARS-CoV-2 serology assay for the detection of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. London: PHE; 2020. Available from: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...
    1. Jeffery-Smith A, Dun-Campbell K, Janarthanan R, Fok J, Crawley-Boevey E, Vusirikala A, et al. Infection and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in London care homes reporting no cases or outbreaks of COVID-19: prospective observational cohort study, England 2020. Lancet Regional Health - Europe. 2021;3:100038. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Imperial College. Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission (REACT) Study. London: Imperial College. [Accessed: Mar 2021]. Available from: https://www.reactstudy.org/

LinkOut - more resources