Cell Host Microbe . A single dose of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine BNT162b2 elicits Fc-mediated antibody effector functions and T cell responses

[tetano]

Cell Host Microbe


. 2021 Jun 4;S1931-3128(21)00279-1.
doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2021.06.001. Online ahead of print.
A single dose of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine BNT162b2 elicits Fc-mediated antibody effector functions and T cell responses


Alexandra Tauzin ¹ , Manon Nayrac ¹ , Mehdi Benlarbi ² , Shang Yu Gong ³ , Romain Gasser ¹ , Guillaume Beaudoin-Bussières ¹ , Nathalie Brassard ² , Annemarie Laumaea ¹ , Dani Vézina ¹ , Jérémie Prévost ¹ , Sai Priya Anand ³ , Catherine Bourassa ² , Gabrielle Gendron-Lepage ² , Halima Medjahed ² , Guillaume Goyette ² , Julia Niessl ⁴ , Olivier Tastet ² , Laurie Gokool ² , Chantal Morrisseau ² , Pascale Arlotto ² , Leonidas Stamatatos ⁵ , Andrew T McGuire ⁶ , Catherine Larochelle ⁷ , Pradeep Uchil ⁸ , Maolin Lu ⁸ , Walther Mothes ⁸ , Gaston De Serres ⁹ , Sandrine Moreira ¹⁰ , Michel Roger ¹¹ , Jonathan Richard ¹ , Valérie Martel-Laferrière ¹ , Ralf Duerr ¹² , Cécile Tremblay ¹³ , Daniel E Kaufmann ¹⁴ , Andrés Finzi ¹⁵



Affiliations

• PMID: 34133950
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2021.06.001

Abstract

While the standard regimen of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 includes two doses administered 3 weeks apart, some public health authorities are spacing these doses, raising concerns about efficacy. However, data indicate that a single dose can be up to 90% effective starting 14 days post-administration. To assess the mechanisms contributing to protection, we analyzed humoral and T cell responses three weeks after a single BNT162b2 dose. We observed weak neutralizing activity elicited in SARS-CoV-2 naive individuals but strong anti-receptor binding domain and spike antibodies with Fc-mediated effector functions and cellular CD4⁺ T cell responses. In previously infected individuals, a single dose boosted all humoral and T cell responses, with strong correlations between T helper and antibody immunity. Our results highlight the potential role of Fc-mediated effector functions and T cell responses in vaccine efficacy. They also provide support for spacing doses to vaccinate more individuals in conditions of vaccine scarcity.

Keywords: ADCC; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; T cell responses; coronavirus; humoral responses; mRNA vaccine; neutralization; spike glycoproteins; variants.