Between the first and the second…
Postponing the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine increases the immune response by 3.5 times
Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+
The results of the study were very unexpected, because initially doctors in the UK simply tried to vaccinate as many people as possible with at least the first dose of the vaccine to reduce the risks of hospitalization and death. The risky experiment turned out to be very successful, and now scientists are considering this vaccination strategy as an effective alternative.
At the end of 2020, due to a shortage of COVID-19 vaccines in In the UK, it was decided to postpone the introduction of second doses of vaccination in order to maximize the number of people who will be at least partially protected from the most severe forms of COVID-19. The result of this bold experiment showed for the first time that the delay of the second dose of the vaccine more than tripled the level of the immune response compared to those people who received the drug according to the initially recommended scheme.
The new findings, published in Nature, were obtained by scientists after analyzing data from 175 patients over 80 years old who were injected with a second dose of Pfizer vaccine three or twelve weeks after the first injection.
Peak antibody levels were 3.5 times higher in those who waited about 12 weeks instead of the standard 3-4 weeks.
The level of T-cell response in this group of patients was lower than among volunteers with a standard administration scheme, however, as scientists note, this did not lead to a faster decrease in antibody levels within nine weeks after the second dose.
Meanwhile, the authors believe that the experiment worked, among other things, due to the continued measures of self-isolation of the population during this period. "Increasing the interval between doses was the right decision, but quarantine in the country also affected the result," concluded co–author Stephen Griffin.
The limitation of the work is the use of only one mRNA vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, the researchers emphasize. Nevertheless, the results for this drug may help other countries to change existing decisions and regulations regarding the planning of Pfizer vaccination schemes, they believe.
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