First results of a prospective trial of the BNT162B2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine

Evangelos Terpos, MD, PhD, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece, discusses the first results of a prospective trial (NCT04743388) of the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in health sanitary workers, octogenarians, and patients with hematological malignancies and solid tumors. The trial evaluated the development of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) and anti-spike RBD IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Prof Terpos discusses preliminary results from 254 health sanitary workers (group one) and 112 octogenarians (group two). 21 donors from group one and zero from group two had NAbs inhibition titers over 30% at day one. These titers increased significantly at day eight, indicating the presence of sustained and rapid anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody production. NAbs in donors ages 50-70 had lower increases than in donors aged 25-49 at day 22. Reduced vaccine efficacy in older donors was confirmed in octogenarians, who developed significantly lower NAb titers at day 22 than other age groups. This interview took place at the virtual European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress 2021.