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  • Palacios-Pedrero, Miguel Ángel; Jansen, Janina M; Blume, Cornelia; Stanislawski, Nils; Jonczyk, Rebecca; Molle, Antonia; Hernandez, Mariana Gonzalez; Kaiser, Franziska K; Jung, Klaus; Osterhaus, Albert D M E; Rimmelzwaan, Guus F; Saletti, Giulietta

    Nature aging, 10/2022, Volume: 2, Issue: 10
    Journal Article

    Vaccination against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is effective in preventing COVID-19 hospitalization and fatal outcome. However, several studies indicated that there is reduced vaccine effectiveness among older individuals, which is correlated with their general health status . How and to what extent age-related immunological defects are responsible for the suboptimal vaccine responses observed in older individuals receiving SARS-CoV-2 messenger RNA vaccine, is unclear and not fully investigated . In this observational study, we investigated adaptive immune responses in adults of various ages (22-99 years old) receiving 2 doses of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine. Vaccine-induced Spike-specific antibody, and T and memory B cell responses decreased with increasing age. These responses positively correlated with the percentages of peripheral naïve CD4 and CD8 T cells and negatively with CD8 T cells expressing signs of immunosenescence. Older adults displayed a preferred T cell response to the S2 region of the Spike protein, which is relatively conserved and a target for cross-reactive T cells induced by human 'common cold' coronaviruses. Memory T cell responses to influenza virus were not affected by age-related changes, nor the SARS-CoV-2-specific response induced by infection. Collectively, we identified signs of immunosenescence correlating with the outcome of vaccination against a new viral antigen to which older adults are immunologically naïve. This knowledge is important for the management of COVID-19 infections in older adults.