Long-term care residents show weaker immune response to first dose of vaccine

published on March 26, 2021 by Glenda Luymes, in Vancouver Sun

A new study recommends giving elderly people their second dose on schedule.

As B.C. prepares to relax visitation restrictions at long-term care facilities on April 1, new research shows that a single dose of the Pfizer vaccine produces a much weaker antibody response in long-term care residents than it does in younger, healthy adults.

That could have serious consequences for elderly people who live in the general community and may have to wait up to four months for their second dose.

“There are many people who are frail and elderly living in the community, and there is no reason to believe their immune systems are any different than people in long-term care,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Marc Romney, who is a professor at the University of B.C. and a medical leader in virology at St. Paul’s Hospital.

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© Copyright BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
St. Paul's Hospital 608–1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-8477 | Fax: 604-806-9044
General inquiries: info@bccfe.ca
Media inquiries: communications@bccfe.ca
(Please do not use any of these email addresses to send personal information or book an appointment. To book appointments or contact the H2H clinic, please call 604-416-1517 or fax: 604-564-4893. Do not send your or your client's personal information via email.)

Our work serves clients and communities across British Columbia on lands and waters cared for and nurtured by the many distinct First Nations across the province. The BC-CfE humbly and gratefully acknowledge the stewards of these lands, particularly the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) on whose unceded, traditional and ancestral territories our offices are located.