Extended interval BNT162b2 vaccination enhances peak antibody generation

The BNT162b2 vaccine is highly effective against COVID-19 infection and was delivered with a 3-week time interval in registration studies(1). However, many countries extended this interval to accelerate population coverage with a single vaccine. It is not known how immune responses are influenced by delaying the second dose. We provide the assessment of immune responses in the first 14 weeks after standard or extended-interval BNT162b2 vaccination and show that delaying the second dose strongly boosts the peak antibody response by 3.5-fold in older people. This enhanced antibody response may offer a longer period of clinical protection and delay the need for booster vaccination. In contrast, peak cellular-specific responses were the strongest in those vaccinated on a standard 3-week vaccine interval. As such, the timing of the second dose has a marked influence on the kinetics and magnitude of the adaptive immune response after mRNA vaccination in older people.

Automated summary

Delaying the second dose of the BNT162b2 vaccine can significantly boost antibody response in older people, providing a longer period of protection and delaying the need for booster vaccination. However, in terms of cellular-specific response, the best results were achieved with the standard vaccine interval.