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T-cell Immunity Against COVID-19 and UK Variant in Infected and Vaccinated Individuals
  • +14
  • Stanley Jordan,
  • Bong-Ha Shin,
  • Terry-Ann Milfordgadsden,
  • Maggie Chu,
  • Anna Petrosyan,
  • Catherine Le,
  • Rachel Zabner,
  • Jillian Oft,
  • Isabel Pedraza,
  • Norkio Ammerman,
  • Susan Cheng,
  • Ashley Vo,
  • Jasmine Plummer,
  • Anders Berg,
  • Shili Ge,
  • Mieko Toyoda,
  • Ruan Zhang
Stanley Jordan
Cedars Sinai Med Ctr

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Bong-Ha Shin
Cedars Sinai Med Ctr
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Terry-Ann Milfordgadsden
Cedars Sinai Med Ctr
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Maggie Chu
Cedars Sinai Med Ctr
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Anna Petrosyan
Cedars Sinai Med Ctr
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Catherine Le
Cedars Sinai Med Ctr
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Rachel Zabner
Cedars Sinai Med Ctr
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Jillian Oft
Cedars Sinai Med Ctr
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Isabel Pedraza
Cedars Sinai Med Ctr
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Norkio Ammerman
Cedars Sinai Med Ctr
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Susan Cheng
Cedars Sinai Med Ctr
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Ashley Vo
Cedars Sinai Med Ctr
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Jasmine Plummer
Cedars Sinai Med Ctr
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Anders Berg
Cedars Sinai Med Ctr
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Shili Ge
Cedars Sinai Med Ctr
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Mieko Toyoda
Cedars Sinai Med Ctr
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Ruan Zhang
Cedars Sinai Med Ctr
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Abstract

Understanding the composition of human immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 and vaccines is essential for predicting protection from infection and determining vaccine efficacy. Here, we explored T-cell immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 and the UK (B.1.1.7) variant of concern (VOC) in infected and vaccinated individuals. In infected patients, CD4+ T-cells demonstrated consistent, robust responses against Spike peptides, while CD8+ T-cells had heterogeneous responses to 5 SARS-CoV-2 proteins. We found 80% of infected and vaccinated individuals showed positive CD4+ T-cell immunity against SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, CD4+/CD8+ T-cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 and the United Kingdom (B.1.1.7) variant are robust and nearly identical in infected and vaccinated individuals. Thus, the UK variant did not interfere with T-cell recognition and elicited responses. These observations will be of critical importance in assessing human immune responses to emerging VOCs.