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LONDON (Reuters) – People in England who have received two doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine generate strong antibody responses when the vaccine is launched, researchers said on Thursday, adding confidence in the vaccines was high.
An Imperial College London survey showed that 87.9% of people over 80 tested positive for antibodies after two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, rising to 95.5% for those under 60 and 100% for those under 30.
“While there is some decrease in positivity with age, at all ages we get this very good response to two doses of the vaccine,” Paul Elliott, president of epidemiology and health medicine, told reporters. public at Imperial College London.
Antibody levels are only part of the picture of immunity, with vaccines also shown to generate strong T cell protection.
Almost 95% of those under 30 tested positive for antibodies 21 days after a dose, but this decreased in older groups.
Research found that 34.7% of those 80 or older generated antibody responses from a dose of Pfizer vaccine, but the UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) had previously found high protection against the Pfizer vaccine after a dose, even when the antibody levels lower.
Britain extended the gap between doses to 12 weeks, although Pfizer warned it only had clinical efficacy data with a three-week gap between injections.
More than 154,000 participants took part in Imperial’s home surveillance study for COVID-19 antibodies, which monitors antibody levels from natural infection as well as among vaccinees, between Jan. 26 and Jan. February 8.
The survey also looked at vaccine confidence and found it to be high, with 92% accepting or planning to accept a vaccine offer, although confidence was lower among blacks, dropping to 72.5 %.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Giles Elgood)
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