A study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)in collaboration with the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) has shown that lAir pollution reduces the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. Specifically, the study indicates that people exposed to higher levels of air pollution before the pandemic presented lower antibody responses to coronavirus vaccines.
The researchers analyzed data from 927 participants between 40 and 65 years old who answered questionnaires and gave blood samples in 2020, just after the first lockdown, and in the spring of 2021, after the start of vaccination. All had received one or two doses of the “main” vaccines administered in Spain.
The results show that in individuals not infected with COVID-19, exposure to pollutants—such as fine particles (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and black carbon (soot)—was associated with a 5-10% reduction in vaccine-induced anti-Spike antibody levels. It was already known that exposure to pollution reduces the immune response, but this study wanted to know if the same thing happened with the production of antibodies after receiving the vaccine against the COVID-19.
LPollution levels “have to be lowered even more”
“Pollution is associated with many health effects: lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, respiratory infections… And clearly it also has effects on the immune system, since it causes inflammation”, points to The newspaper ISGlobal researcher Manolis Kogevinas, who is clear about what needs to be changed: “We see that not very high levels of contamination are harmful to health. They have to go down even more. We do not have to change the vaccination strategy.”
“Air pollution can cause a chronic inflammationa, which has been associated with a negative effect on the efficacy of vaccines”, explains, on the other hand, Carlota Dobaño, ISGlobal researcher and last author of the study. “Our findings are consistent with studies showing that persistent organic pollutants reduce the response to vaccines in children”, indicates the expert.
