Age differentially impacts adaptive immune responses induced by adenoviral versus mRNA vaccines against COVID-19

Abstract

Adenoviral and mRNA vaccines encoding the viral spike (S) protein have been deployed globally to contain severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Older individuals are particularly vulnerable to severe infection, probably reflecting age-related changes in the immune system, which can also compromise vaccine efficacy. It is nonetheless unclear to what extent different vaccine platforms are impacted by immunosenescence. Here, we evaluated S protein-specific immune responses elicited by vaccination with two doses of BNT162b2 or ChAdOx1-S and subsequently boosted with a single dose of BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273, comparing age-stratified participants with no evidence of previous infection with SARS-CoV-2. We found that aging profoundly compromised S protein-specific IgG titers and further limited S protein-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell immunity as a probable function of progressive erosion of the naive lymphocyte pool in individuals vaccinated initially with BNT162b2. Our results demonstrate that primary vaccination with ChAdOx1-S and subsequent boosting with BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 promotes sustained immunological memory in older adults and potentially confers optimal protection against coronavirus disease 2019. Age-related immune dysfunction can compromise immune responses to infection and vaccine efficacy. Across two cohorts, Dallan et al. demonstrate that protective immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus is optimally maintained in older adults after primary adenoviral immunization (ChAdOx1-S) and subsequent mRNA vaccine boosting (BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273).