Prior SARS-CoV-2 infection rescues B and T cell responses to variants after first vaccine dose

• DOI: 10.1126/science.abh1282
• Publication Date: 2021-04-30T15:10:41Z
• Authors: Catherine J. Reyn...; Corinna Pade; Joseph M. Gibbons; David K. Butler; Ashley D. Otter; Katia Menacho; Marianna Fontana; Angelique Smit; Jane E. Sackville...; Teresa Cutino-Moguel; Mala K. Maini; Benjamin Chain; Mahdad Noursadeghi; ; Tim Brooks; Amanda Semper; Charlotte Manisty; Thomas A. Treibel; James C. Moon; ; Ana M. Valdes; Áine McKnight; Daniel M. Altmann; Rosemary Boyton; Hakam Abbass; Aderonke Abiodun; Mashael Alfarih; Zoe Alldis; Daniel M. Altmann; Oliver E. Amin; Mervyn Andiapen; Jessica Artico; João B. Augusto; Georgina L. Baca; Sasha N. L. Bailey; Anish N. Bhuva; Alex Boulter; Ruth Bowles; Rosemary J. Boyton; Olivia V. Bracken; Ben O’Brien; Tim Brooks; Natalie Bullock; David K. Butler; Gabriella Captur; Nicola Champion; Carmen Chan; Aneesh Chandran; David Collier; Jorge Couto de Sousa; Xose Couto-Parada; Teresa Cutino-Moguel; Rhodri H. Davies; Brooke Douglas; Cecilia Di Genova; Keenan Dieobi-Anene; Mariana O. Diniz; Anaya Ellis; Karen Feehan; Malcolm Finlay; Marianna Fontana; Nasim Forooghi; Celia Gaier; Joseph M. Gibbons; Derek Gilroy; Matt Hamblin; Gabrielle Harker; Jacqueline Hewson; Wendy Heywood; Lauren M. Hickling; Aroon D. Hingorani; Lee Howes; Alun Hughes; Gemma Hughes; Rebecca Hughes; Ivie Itua; Victor Jardim; Wing-Yiu Jason Lee; Melaniepetra Jensen; Jessica Jones; Meleri Jones; George Joy; Vikas Kapil; Hibba Kurdi; Jonathan Lambourne; Kai-Min Lin; Sarah Louth; Mala K. Maini; Vineela Mandadapu; Charlotte Manisty; Áine McKnight; Katia Menacho; Celina Mfuko; Kevin Mills; Oliver Mitchelmore; Christopher Moon; James C. Moon; Diana Munoz-Sandoval; Sam M. Murray; Mahdad Noursadeghi; Ashley Otter; Corinna Pade; Susana Palma; Ruth Parker; Kush Patel; Babita Pawarova; Steffen E. Petersen; Brian Piniera; Franziska P. Pieper; Daniel Pope; Mary Prossora; Lisa Rannigan; Alicja Rapala; Catherine J. Reyn...; Amy Richards; Matthew Robathan; Joshua Rosenheim; Genine Sambile; Nathalie M. Schmidt; Amanda Semper; Andreas Seraphim; Mihaela Simion; Angelique Smit; Michelle Sugimoto; Leo Swadling; Stephen Taylor; Nigel Temperton; Stephen Thomas; George D. Thornton; Thomas A. Treibel; Art Tucker; Jessry Veerapen; Mohit Vijayakumar; Sophie Welch; Theresa Wodehouse; Lucinda Wynne; Dan Zahedi; Benjamin Chain
• Keywords: QR355; 0301 basic medicine; 03 medical and health sciences; General Science & Technology; 610; UK COVIDsortium Immune Correlates Network; UK COVIDsortium Investigators; Reports; 3. Good health

A boost from infection

During clinical trials of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 vaccines, no one who had survived infection with the virus was tested. A year after the pandemic was declared, vaccination of previously infected persons is a reality. Reynolds et al. address the knowledge gap in a cohort of UK health care workers given the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in which half of the participants had experienced natural virus infections early in the pandemic (see the Perspective by Crotty). Genotyping indicated that a genetic component underlies heterogeneity in immune responses to vaccine and to natural infection. After vaccination, naïve individuals developed antibody responses similar to those seen in naturally infected persons, but T cell responses were more limited and sometimes absent. However, antibody and memory responses in individuals vaccinated after infection were substantially boosted to the extent that a single vaccine dose is likely to protect against the more aggressive B.1.1.7 variant. It is possible that the messenger RNA vaccine has an adjuvant effect, biasing responses toward antibody generation.

Science , abh1282, this issue p. 1418 ; see also abj2258, p. 1392