Study reveals third COVID-19 vaccine dose improves defence in vulnerable patients - PMLiVE

The new research from the OCTAVE DUO trial was published in the Lancet Rheumatology and was co-funded by the government and Blood Cancer UK, with support from the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

Involving 11 hospitals across the UK, the trial recruited 804 patients from nine disease areas who had previously mounted low or no immune response to the initial two doses of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Among those who mounted a low immune response, a total of 90% of patients who received a third vaccine dose went on to develop significant levels of antibodies, while 54% of 'non-respondents' saw no relevant increase and specifically found that those with lymphoid disease and chronic renal disease had the worst antibody mounting outcomes from boosters.

"This underscores the need for other protective factors to support the most clinically vulnerable in society and continue to be vigilant against COVID-19 in society," explained Pamela Kearns, professor of clinical paediatric oncology and director, Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, University of Birmingham.

In addition, the study found that some drugs reduced antibody responses, including treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancers and, for 90% of all patients, T cell responses were high, including 55% of those who previously did not show any T cells after two vaccinations.

Kearns added: "The COVID-19 booster programme has been shown to have an important protective effect for many of the most clinically vulnerable members of society for whom the initial two doses were insufficient… It is encouraging to see that boosters helped to increase antibody defences [in] nine in ten participants who hadn't previously mounted a defence after two jabs."

Most recently, researchers from the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and Caltech collaborated to develop a new vaccine technology known as the Quartet Nanocage.

Published in Nature Nanotechnology, the vaccine has proven to provide protection against a wide range of coronaviruses, including those that have not yet emerged, in preparation for future outbreaks.