Short-term humoral and cellular immune responses are diminished after BNT162b2 messenger ribonucleic acid coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination in COVID-19-naive nursing home residents, a population particularly vulnerable to the disease. We found both responses to decline after 4 weeks and remain lower than those of healthcare workers after 24 weeks, with an estimated half-life of the antibody response of 47 days. At 4 weeks, older age was significantly associated with a decreased humoral response, and diabetes mellitus and active malignancy were associated with a decreased cellular response. Our results imply that COVID-19-naive nursing home residents are a target group for booster vaccination trials.
Keywords: 19; 19 vaccine; 2; BNT162b2 mRNA COVID; COVID; CoV; SARS; nursing home residents.
© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.