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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

COVID vaccines falter in people with severe obesity

Levels of protective antibodies decline faster in people with a very high body mass index.
A nurse prepares the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use at a vaccination centre, Mexico.

Vaccination against COVID-19 generates antibodies in people with obesity, but levels of those antibodies decline relatively quickly. Credit: Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Getty

Immune responses to COVID-19 vaccines wane faster in those with severe obesity than in those with a healthy body mass index (BMI), according to a study of more than 3.6 million people1.

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Nature 617, 654 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01590-0

References

  1. Van der Klaauw, A. A. et al. Nature Med. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02343-2 (2023).

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