May 14, 2021

Short-Term Antibody Response Afer 1 Dose of BNT162b2 Vaccine in Patients Receiving Hemodialysis

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Clinical Characteristics and Health Care Setting

Keywords (Tags): vaccine

• A study of persons receiving onsite hemodialysis and health care worker controls (N=210) found that a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine failed to elicit detectable IgG antibodies in 57% of hemodialysis patients and 5% of health care workers without previous SARS-CoV-2 infection at 4 weeks following vaccination. Among hemodialysis patients with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, median antibody levels were similar to those of health care workers 3 weeks post-vaccination. However, T-cell response was not assessed in this study. The authors suggest that persons receiving hemodialysis be prioritized for a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech at the recommended 3-week dosing interval, and highlight the importance of rigorous infection control procedures in dialysis centers. 

Goupil et al. (May 12, 2021). Short-Term Antibody Response Afer 1 Dose of BNT162b2 Vaccine in Patients Receiving Hemodialysis. Canadian Medical Association Journal. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.210673