COvid-19 Vaccine Immune Genetics (COVIG)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An immunogenetic approach to guide the need for booster shots and combat immune failure in SARS-CoV-2 vaccine response
IRAS ID
302738
Contact name
Julian C. Knight
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford - Clinical Trials & Research Governance
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Vaccination has been hugely impactful in control of the current COVID-19 pandemic. However, in a significant number of individuals, the immune response after vaccination is significantly lower than expected which will impact the ability to control SARS-CoV-2 infection and is likely exacerbated with variants of concern. To establish the optimal strategy for booster vaccination, we propose a programme of work that will advance our ability to identify individuals who have, or are at risk of mounting, a low response after COVID-19 vaccination; to understand the underlying heritable, molecular and immunological mechanisms for this response; and whether booster dose vaccination can mitigate a dampened immune response. To deliver this, we propose a collaborative, multi-disciplinary and multi-centre approach. We will work with the National COVID-19 Infection Survey to identify individuals in the general UK population with extremes of antibody responsiveness to vaccination and map genetic associations with response. This will deliver specific predictive genetic biomarkers that can help identify at risk individuals and populations and reveal novel insights into mechanism of poor vaccine response. Complementing this genetic analysis, we will investigate the role of clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential and of epigenetics, which is the long term regulation of expression of genes over time. We will determine the effectiveness of booster vaccination on immune response in poor responder individuals and the immune correlates of this through targeted delineation of the antibody response, repertoire analysis, cellular immune function and viral neutralisation capacity in low responders. The project deliverables will directly impact and inform vaccine policy and rollout.
REC name
London - Dulwich Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/HRA/3689
Date of REC Opinion
19 Oct 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion