Table 1.
T-cell responses by mRNA vaccine type
| T-cell nonpositive | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vaccine | Anti-spike antibody (AU/mL) | T-cell positive | T-cell negative | T-cell no call | Subtotal |
| Total | <0.8 (221) | 99 (45%) | 82 (37%) | 40 (18%) | 122 (55%) |
| N = 505 | ≥0.8 (284) | 166 (58%)a | 96 (34%) | 22 (8%) | 118 (42%) |
| mRNA-1273 | <0.8 (87) | 45 (52%)b | 27 (31%) | 15 (17%) | 42 (48%) |
| N = 236 | ≥0.8 (149) | 97 (65%) | 37 (25%) | 15 (10%) | 52 (35%) |
| BNT162b | <0.8 (134) | 54 (40%) | 55 (41%) | 25 (19%) | 80 (60%) |
| N = 269 | ≥0.8 (135) | 69 (51%) | 59 (44%) | 7 (5%) | 66 (49%) |
NOTE: SARS-CoV-2–specific T-cell responses were categorized by anti-S antibody levels and mRNA vaccine type. Anti-S antibody levels were analyzed by the semiquantitative Elecsys anti-SARS-CoV-2 S enzyme immunoassay using patient sera. Immunosequencing of the CDR3 regions of human T-cell receptor (TCR) beta chains on genomic DNA from peripheral blood samples and identification of SARS-CoV-2–specific TCRs were performed as described in Methods. Peripheral blood samples for TCR sequencing were collected a median of 147 days after the second dose of vaccination [interquartile range (IQR): 129–164 days]). A classifier trained to diagnose SARS-CoV-2 infection (10) was used to categorize SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell response calls. “No call” resulting from the insufficient number of T cells in the patient sample for a definitive negative call were grouped together with negative call as “Nonpositive” to reflect the patient population with reduced T-cell activation after two doses of vaccination.
aSignificantly different compared with <0.8 AU/mL, T cell–positive value for the total cohort (P = 0.003, Fisher exact t test).
bSignificantly different compared with <0.8 AU/mL, T cell–positive value for the BTN162b2 cohort (P = 0.001 Fisher exact t test.