No evidence that COVID-19 vaccines cause more severe disease; antibody-dependent enhancement has not been observed in clinical trials
Antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) occurs when antibodies are unable to neutralize a virus’ infectivity, but instead enhance a virus’ ability to infect cells. Although ADE has been observed in humans with the dengue vaccine and a vaccine candidate for the respiratory syncytial virus, the evidence from COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials so far have not shown more severe disease occurring in vaccinated participants. People who have been given the COVID-19 vaccine will still be closely monitored to completely rule out the possibility of ADE.