May 14, 2021

antibody and cellular immune responses in over 80s after 2 doses of BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine with either a 3-week or 11-12-week dosing interval

A new preprint from the UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium and the University of Birmingham looks at the antibody and cellular immune responses in people aged 80 years or older after 2 doses of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine with either a 3-week or 11-12 week dosing interval.

As far as the authors are aware, this is the first study in the world to directly compare the immune responses generated by a 3-week versus a 12-week dosing schedule for this vaccine for any age group.

Please note this data is a preprint, so it is early work that has not yet been through peer-review and is not published in a journal.

Journalists dialled in to hear the study investigators present their results and answer any questions.

Speakers included:

Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, Consultant Epidemiologist, Public Health England

Prof Paul Moss, UK-CIC lead and Professor of Haematology at the University of Birmingham and Director of Research and Knowledge Transfer in the College of Medicine

Dr Helen Parry, NIHR academic clinical lecturer,  University of Birmingham and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham

This Briefing was accompanied by and SMC Roundup of Comments.