COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to an enormous adverse impact globally with millions of individuals infected and more than 6 million dead. Most infected individuals do not display any major disease symptoms; others have mild flu like symptoms for a few days before recovery. However, a subset of patients’ exhibits severe symptoms such as those of viral pneumonia with systemic hyper-inflammation or cytokine storm that may lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) that can be fatal. Elderly subjects and those with co-morbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, obesity etc. have emerged as the vulnerable populations that display increased susceptibility and severity to SARS-CoV-2. Innate immunity is the first line of defense against the viruses. Dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages are key cellular elements of the innate immune system that can sense and respond to viruses by producing inflammatory mediators and priming CD4 and CD8 T cell responses. We investigated the changes in innate immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 as a function of age. Our results using human PBMCs from aged, middle-aged, and young subjects indicate that the activation of DCs in response to SARS-CoV-2 is compromised in aged individuals as compared to young and middle-aged subjects. In keeping with reduced DC activation, the induction of cytotoxic CD8 T cells is also impaired in aged subjects. RNA-sequencing studies also reveal downregulation of several pathways in aged subjects. Genes for chemokines that attract other immune cells to fight infections show significant downregulation with age. In summary, our results indicate that decreased innate immune responses may be playing a major role in the increase susceptibility of aged subjects to COVID-19.