Italian researchers have deduced that very overweight people have a severe corona course in comparison to people of ‘normal weight’ and this could also affect the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccination.
Factors such as age, gender and body weight influence the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccination so 248 blood samples were taken from health care workers on the seventh day after they had received the second Biontech vaccine dose.
The researchers then determined the measure of the amount of antibodies that can be detected in the blood after vaccination (titer value) and noticed the differences depending on age, gender and body weight.
Participants under 37 reaction
It was discovered that the highest titer values were greatly dependent on age. Those between 37-47 years responded better than those between 47-56 years. Beyond 56 years of age it showed the lowest titer value.
Male, old and overweight is the worst combination
Gender and body weight played a key factor in the COVID-19 vaccine. After vaccination, women developed more antibodies against the coronavirus than their male counterparts.
Gennaro Ciliberto from the IRCCS Regina Elena National Cancer Institute in Rome led the research team in the discovery that weight can also reduce vaccine protection. People with a BMI of over 30 had a titer value that was very low as compared to people of normal weight.
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We wrote about a study done on overweight people that determined the Pfizer vaccine won’t work as efficient on people who are overweight due to the fact that fat/overweight/ obese people make half as many antibodies even after the second dose of the vaccine. (HERE)
Third dose for overweight people
This means that for people who are fat/overweight they might require a third dose or an additional amount of the COVID-19 vaccine if further studies confirm that the already being administered conventional two doses do not lead to the production of the desired amount of antibodies in the body.
Source: Study, FrankfurterRundschau