Authors: Thomas R. Müller, Takuya Sekine, Darya Trubach, Julia Niessl, Puran Chen, Peter Bergman, Ola Blennow, Lotta Hansson, Stephan Mielke, Piotr Nowak, Jan Vesterbacka, Mira Akber, Anna Olofsson, Susana Patricia Amaya Hernandez, Yu Gao, Curtis Cai, Gunnar Söderdahl, C. I. Edvard Smith, Anders Österborg, Karin Loré, Margaret Sällberg Chen, Per Ljungman, Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren, Annika C. Karlsson, Sunil Kumar Saini, Soo Aleman, Marcus Buggert
Published: 2023-07-12
DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.adg9452
Source: Full article
Suboptimal immunity to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination has frequently been observed in individuals with various immunodeficiencies. Given the increased antibody evasion properties of emerging SARS-CoV-2 subvariants, it is necessary to assess whether other components of adaptive immunity generate resilient and protective responses against infection. We assessed T cell responses in 279 individuals, covering five different immunodeficiencies and healthy controls, before and after booster mRNA vaccination, as well as after Omicron infection in a subset of patients. We observed robust and persistent Omicron-reactive T cell responses that increased markedly upon booster vaccination and correlated directly with antibody titers across all patient groups. Poor vaccination responsiveness in immunocompromised or elderly individuals was effectively counteracted by the administration of additional vaccine doses. Functionally, Omicron-reactive T cell responses exhibited a pronounced cytotoxic profile and signs of longevity, characterized by CD45RA