Massive vaccination offers great promise for halting the global COVID-19 pandemic. However, limited supply and uneven vaccine distribution create an urgent need to optimize vaccination strategies. We evaluate SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody responses after Sputnik V vaccination of healthcare workers in Argentina, measuring IgG anti-spike titers and neutralizing capacity after one and two doses in a cohort of naïve or previously infected volunteers. By 21 days after receiving the first dose of vaccine, 94% of naïve participants develop spike-specific IgG antibodies. A single Sputnik V dose elicits higher antibody levels and virus neutralizing capacity in previously infected individuals than in naïve ones receiving the full two-dose schedule. The high seroconversion rate after a single dose in naïve participants suggests a benefit of delaying second dose administration to increase the number of people vaccinated. The data presented provide information for guiding public health decisions in light of the current global health emergency.

The circadian clock is an important endogenous timekeeper, helping plants to prepare for the periodic changes of light and darkness in their environment. The clockwork of this molecular timer is made up of clock proteins that regulate transcription of their own genes with a 24 h rhythm. Furthermore, the rhythmically expressed clock proteins regulate time-of-day dependent transcription of downstream genes, causing messenger RNA (mRNA) oscillations of a large part of the transcriptome. On top of the transcriptional regulation by the clock, circadian rhythms in mRNAs rely in large parts on post-transcriptional regulation, including alternative pre-mRNA splicing, mRNA degradation, and translational control. Here, we present recent insights into the contribution of post-transcriptional regulation to core clock function and to regulation of circadian gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Vaccines have been produced in record time for SARS-CoV-2, offering the possibility of halting the global pandemic. However, inequalities in vaccine accessibility in different regions of the world create a need to increase international cooperation.