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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2022.01.19.476497

T cell response following anti COVID-19 BNT162b2 vaccination is maintained against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron B.1.1.529 variant of concern

Cohen, H.·Rotem, S.·Elia, U.·Bilinsky, G.·Levy, I.·Chitlaru, T.·Bar-Haim, E.
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Abstract

The progression of the COVID-19 pandemic leads to the emergence of variants of concern (VOC), which may compromise the efficacy of the currently administered vaccines. Antigenic drift can potentially bring about a reduced protective T cell immunity and consequently to more severe disease manifestations. To assess this possibility, the T cell responses to the wild-type, Wuhan-1 SARS-CoV-2 ancestral spike protein and Omicron B.1.1.529 spike protein were compared. Accordingly, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were collected from 8 healthy volunteers 4-5 months following a third vaccination with BNT162b2, and stimulated with overlapping peptide libraries representing the spike of either the ancestral or Omicron SARS-CoV- 2 virus variants. Quantification of the specific T cells was carried out by a fluorescent ELISPOT assay, monitoring interferon-gamma (IFNg), interleukin-10 (IL-10) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) secreting cells. For all the examined individuals, comparable level of reactivity to both forms of spike protein were determined. In addition, a dominant Th1 response was observed, manifested mainly by IFNg secreting cells and only limited numbers of IL-10 and IL-4 secreting cells. The data demonstrates a stable T cell activity to the emerging Omicron variant in the tested individuals, therefore the protective immunity to the variant following BNT162b2 vaccination is not significantly affected.

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Cohen, H., Rotem, S., Elia, U., Bilinsky, G., Levy, I., Chitlaru, T., Bar-Haim, E.. 2022-01-20. T cell response following anti COVID-19 BNT162b2 vaccination is maintained against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron B.1.1.529 variant of concern. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.19.476497

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