News release

From: American College of Physicians

COVID-19 vaccination elicits antibody response in vast majority of immunocompromised patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy

Abstract: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M21-1757
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A prospective cohort study found that nearly 90 percent of immunocompromised patients taking glucocorticoids or other immunosuppressive therapy had an antibody response following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. The response was about a third as strong as that of participants with healthy immune systems but suggests that vaccines could offer some protection to those at risk for severe illness. The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of California, San Francisco recruited 133 adults with confirmed chronic inflammatory diseases and 53 immunocompetent volunteers to receive an mRNA vaccine for SARS-CoV-2. Participants provided blood samples within 2 weeks before receiving the first dose of the mRNA vaccine and within 3 weeks after receiving the second dose. The researchers measured each participants’ antibody levels and counted the number of antibody-producing cells in their blood samples. All patients stayed on their prescribed drug regimens, except for three whose medications were paused within one week of immunization.

The researchers found that about 9 out of 10 immunocompetent participants developed antibodies in response to the vaccine, although the response was weaker than for those in the healthy group. Patients taking glucocorticoids and those taking B cell-depleting therapies were at higher risk for not developing an antibody response.

According to the researchers, these findings should encourage immunocompromised patients to get their COVID-19 vaccine. The CDC recently recommended a third dose of vaccine for this patient population, which could elicit an even stronger response.