How Losing Sleep Following Vaccination May Weaken the Response to SARS-CoV Vaccines

With the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants, a close analysis of factors that affect the efficacy of the vaccine in different groups is a must. It is important to elucidate the role of clinical, behavioral and host factors on modulation of immunogenicity of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Data from other vaccines have shown that duration and efficiency of sleep affect the immunogenicity of the vaccine. There is a need for identification of circadian influence and sleep on SARS-CoV-2 vaccine using validated immune correlates of protection. We propose that sleep acts as a natural adjuvant by promoting the immunological synapse formation between the antigen presenting cells and CD4⁺ T cells thereby leading to activation of cellular and humoral immunity in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Thus, apart from the titer of neutralizing antibodies, the cellular immunity including CD4⁺ T cells and memory T cells must be assessed to clearly demarcate the long-term effect of sleep duration and efficiency on vaccine immunogenicity.