Immunosuppressed Individuals Respond to COVID-19 Vaccination

Results of a clinical study published in Annals of Internal Medicine show that almost 9 out of 10 people taking immunosuppressants had an antibody response to COVID-19 vaccination. This study included 9 individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) who comprised 6.8% of the participants taking immunosuppressants.

All healthy participants (n=53) and 88.7% of immunosuppressed participants (n=133) produced antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. However, mean antibody levels and the number of antibody-producing cells in the immunosuppressed group were only one-third as high as those in the healthy group. 

“Some of our patients have been hesitant about getting vaccinated, which is unfortunate because they are at increased risk of having more severe cases of COVID-19 if they happen to get infected, compared to those not taking immunosuppressing drugs,” said Alfred Kim, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine, Barnes-Jewish Hospital. “Some of them are worried that vaccination might cause their disease to flare, but we haven’t seen that happen. Others don’t see the point of vaccination because they think the drugs they’re taking to treat their autoimmune condition will prevent them from producing an immune response to the vaccine. What we’ve found here is that the vast majority of immunocompromised patients with autoimmune diseases are able to mount antibody responses following COVID-19 vaccination. There’s clearly a benefit for this population.”  

Patients provided blood samples within 2 weeks before receiving the first dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, and within 3 weeks after receiving the second dose. The researchers measured each participant’s antibody levels and counted the number of antibody-producing cells in their blood samples. All patients stayed on their prescribed drug regimens, except for 3 whose medications were paused within 1 week of immunization.