Does poor glycaemic control affect the immunogenicity of the COVID‐19 vaccination in patients with type 2 diabetes: The CAVEAT study

Previous studies have shown that individuals with diabetes had a consistently lower immunological response to the hepatitis B vaccine,7 while less consistent results were noted for influenza and varicella-zoster vaccines.8 In this context, evaluating SARS-CoV-2 vaccine efficacy is critical to reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19 in this vulnerable population. Testing vaccines that prevent infection with SARS-CoV-2 in T2D populations with poorly controlled glycaemia, therefore, is important because increased incidences of illness and death from COVID-19 have been associated with hyperglycaemia. Two doses of 30 μg BNT162b (Pfizer-BioNtech) elicited similar binding-antibody responses in people with or without T2D.9 However, there are no data on neutralizing antibodies and cell-mediated response to BNT162b vaccine in T2D patients, nor data on the immunological vaccine responses related to glycaemic control.10 The aim of the present study, therefore, was to evaluate cell-mediated response to the COVID-19 vaccine with regard to diabetic status and glycaemic control.