Humoral and cellular immune responses following BNT162b2 XBB.1.5 vaccination

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron XBB subvariants efficiently evade immunity from prior infection or vaccination, requiring vaccine adaptation. Within the frame of the ongoing CoCo Study, we analyzed the immunogenicity of an adapted vaccine, BNT162b2 Omicron XBB.1.5, which is currently used for booster vaccination. In this joint project together with AG Behrens (MHH Department of Rheumatology and Immunology) and AG Pöhlmann (German Primate Centre, Göttingen), we found that BNT162b2 Omicron XBB.1.5 vaccination resulted in potent neutralizing antibody responses against Omicron XBB variants as well as XBB.1.5 reactive T cell responses, suggesting that booster vaccination will augment protection against these emerging variants. These results were recently published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(23)00690-4/fulltext).