No antibodies after AZ vaccine

[Wbeezer]

My parents are 80, they both had there first jabs about thre months ago and have been participating in a survey for the ONS, they get swabbed every two weeks to treat for infection. Testing for vaccine antibodies was added to the last visit and loo and behold they have no antibodies post vaccine. I'm a bit upset about this was looking forward to just maybe risking a hug or two but no way now. What does everyone think? Do you think they will get an improvement with the second jab?

www.bbc.com/future/article/20201013-why-older-people-are-harder-to-vaccinate

Antibodies arent the be all and end all. T-cells also pay a big part.

[quote Dowser]www.bbc.com/future/article/20201013-why-older-people-are-harder-to-vaccinate[/quote]

Although I believe that older people have done pretty well with Covid vaccines. NB that article is from October last year.

@Wbeezer

We are part of the same study with ONS. We have blook taken and it is sent off for antibody analysis.

It took 4 weeks for my DH's antibodies to show as positive, he was AZ.

I am Pfizer and it took a similar time for my antibodies to show.

Maybe your parents were hoping for them to show too soon?

We only have our bloods taken once a month now.

Just got the resukts of my second antibody test.
The first was almost 6 weeks after the vaccine - negative for S antibodies.
The second was ten weeks after - positive for S antibodies.
I am so happy!

They always said the 12 week gap was beneficial for AZ, maybe this is why.

Good to hear!

Following with interest.

DH and I are also in the ONS study - 23 days after his vaccine (AZ)? he tested positive for antibodies, whioch was a great result as he has a donor immune system.

I was tested 9 days post AZ vaccine was negative, which is not surprising, but am now awaiting the results of the next blood test (wh9ch will be just over 6 weeks from vaccination). As I have underling health conditions I am desperate for antibodies and will be devastated if they haven't shown up. My fingers are very firmly crossed.

@Wbeezer

Thanks for all the info, I'll pass it on, my parents are retired doctors so should manage to understand even the more technical stuff! They are getting second jabs next week (we're in Scotland so slightly behind). Any mistakes in my original posts are not caused by my parents being doddery but by the fact that my Dad kept wandering to far from the home hub during our WhatsApp call and cutting out so i missed the odd phrase and filled in the blanks.

So what is their opinion?

I'd be more keen to ask them what they think.

Btw I love "loo and behold" 😂

I am desperate for antibodies and will be devastated if they haven't shown up. My fingers are very firmly crossed

I was exactly the same. I was nervous of opening the letter and very relieved when it was a tick for antibodies.

Pfizer and blood test 6 weeks after vaccine.

My mum is in the same study and has antibodies after the first vaccine. I think she said 60%?

@FuzzyPuffling As I have underling health conditions I am desperate for antibodies and will be devastated if they haven't shown up

I have multiple underlying conditions including auto immune. I was gutted when my test came back negative after 6 weeks. It felt like all the hope and joy of the vaccine was sucked away in an instant. My positive test today after 10 weeks is the best thing ever!

[quote Boph]**@FuzzyPuffling* As I have underling health conditions I am desperate for antibodies and will be devastated if they haven't shown up*

I have multiple underlying conditions including auto immune. I was gutted when my test came back negative after 6 weeks. It felt like all the hope and joy of the vaccine was sucked away in an instant. My positive test today after 10 weeks is the best thing ever![/quote]
Boph I can absolutely imagine. (I also have auto immune issues - SLE and APS).

No antibodies would be a huge fun sponge for me. I'm expecting the results letter to take longer than usual because of the bank holidays as well, so maybe more than two weeks instead of the 12 days ish it seems to be under normal circumstances.

And I am genuinely delighted for your +ve letter today. I shall hang on to the coat tails of your joy!

Just wanted to say how delighted I am with your latest result @Boph !

Hopefully the scond jab will work.

I think this is a useful reminder of why unlocking too fast (as they did in Chile - where they have vaccinated more than we have) puts that age group at risk - because only three-quarters of them are protected after jab 1. After jab 2 hopefully that will be quiet a bit higher - but if I was 80 I would still wear a mask in e.g. shops even after vaccination while case rates fairly high in the UK.

Just wanted to say this is super interesting and goes to show that we should all probably be cautious for at least a few months after everyone is vaccinated.

Hi @FuzzyPuffling ! Miss you on the good news boards but respect your decision!

I thought that the vaccine caused your bodies to make antibodies when you were exposed to the virus, not that they necessarily remained present in the blood generally.

@RedcurrantPuff

I thought that the vaccine caused your bodies to make antibodies when you were exposed to the virus, not that they necessarily remained present in the blood generally.

No, the vaccine produces antibodies. They are slightly different from those you get from being infected but antibody tests can differentiate between the two kinds. A lot of research is underway to find out how long they last after either infection or vaccination. That's the main thing they are looking at in the research project I'm volunteering for.

@FuzzyPuffling and @tobee Thanks 😊.

I completely agree about caution after vaccination. All the information says be careful for 2 to 3 weeks, but clearly that wasn't enough in my case. While I do have a number of health problems I am not severely immunocompromised.

No, the vaccine produces antibodies.

No it doesn't - it provides a target for your immune system to attack. Your immune system's B cells generate antibodies in response to exposure to an antigen - in this case the vaccine.
Once they've been exposed, B cells develop into memory B cells.

Over time the level of antibodies present in the blood stream falls (faster in older people), but as long as those memory B cells remain, the body will be able to quickly regenerate them should it once again be exposed to that antigen.

Ok I'm not an immunologist, but that's semantics, the vaccine triggers the production of antibodies.
What the previous poster suggested was that abs are only produced when you encounter the virus, wheras in fact they are produced after receiving the vaccine.

@Boph

Ok I'm not an immunologist, but that's semantics, the vaccine triggers the production of antibodies. What the previous poster suggested was that abs are only produced when you encounter the virus, wheras in fact they are produced after receiving the vaccine.

Ah apologies - I thought YOU were incorrectly being picky. I see the correction you were making now. Didn't mean to nitpick myself :)

There’s an interesting article here about how the AZ vaccine differs from the other vaccines in terms of stabilising the spike protein, and why there are lower levels of antibodies from the 1st jab. It’s not bad news though, as 2nd jab shows same level of ABs as J&J vaccine at 4 weeks, and even more at our extended 12 week 2nd jab pattern. Plus a very robust T-cell response. coviddatareview.wordpress.com/2021/04/04/covid-vaccines-from-pfizer-moderna-jj-novavax-code-for-a-stabilised-spike-why-did-they-stabilise-the-spike-and-have-oxford-az-made-a-mistake-by-not-stabilising-the-spi/