Characteristics associated with serological COVID-19 vaccine response and durability in an older population with significant comorbidity: author's response.

To the Editor,

We read the letter by Villacorta et al. with interest [1]. In the letter, the authors argue that it is important to assess high blood pressure as a risk factor for severe COVID-19 and point out that we did not include high blood pressure in the risk factor analyses in our article [2]. Although we agree that high blood pressure is a risk factor for severe COVID-19, our article is focused on a different topic—COVID-19 vaccination and risk factors for vaccine hypo-responsiveness. In fact, we did not include any data on COVID-19 infection in our article and, to my knowledge, there is no known biological mechanism or data to support an association between vaccine responsiveness and high blood pressure. The letter seems like a more generic comment than an actual response to the published paper. Therefore, it is unclear to me how the letter addresses the content of our article.

Transparency declaration

OSS declare no conflicts of interest.

This comment has not received any scholarships from agencies in the public, commercial, or non-profit sectors.

Author's contributions

OSS wrote the comment.