Rapid, robust, and sustainable antibody responses to mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in convalescent COVID-19 individuals
Sabrina E. Racine-Brzostek, Jim K. Yee, Ashley Sukhu, Yuqing Qiu, Sophie Rand, Paul D. Barone, Ying Hao, He S. Yang, Qing H. Meng, Fred S. Apple, Yuanyuan Shi, Amy Chadburn, Encouse Golden, Silvia C. Formenti, Melissa M. Cushing, Zhen Zhao
Sabrina E. Racine-Brzostek, Jim K. Yee, Ashley Sukhu, Yuqing Qiu, Sophie Rand, Paul D. Barone, Ying Hao, He S. Yang, Qing H. Meng, Fred S. Apple, Yuanyuan Shi, Amy Chadburn, Encouse Golden, Silvia C. Formenti, Melissa M. Cushing, Zhen Zhao
View: Text | PDF
Research Article COVID-19 Immunology

Rapid, robust, and sustainable antibody responses to mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in convalescent COVID-19 individuals

Abstract

Longitudinal studies are needed to evaluate the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine antibody response under real-world conditions. This longitudinal study investigated the quantity and quality of SARS-CoV-2 antibody response in 846 specimens from 350 patients, comparing BNT162b2-vaccinated individuals (19 previously diagnosed with COVID-19, termed RecoVax; and 49 never diagnosed, termed NaiveVax) with 122 hospitalized unvaccinated (HospNoVax) and 160 outpatient unvaccinated (OutPtNoVax) COVID-19 patients. NaiveVax experienced delay in generating SARS-CoV-2 total antibodies (TAb) and surrogate neutralizing antibodies (SNAb) after the first vaccine dose (D1) but rapid increase in antibody levels after the second dose (D2). However, these never reached RecoVax’s robust levels. In fact, NaiveVax TAb and SNAb levels decreased 4 weeks after D2. For the most part, RecoVax TAb persisted, after reaching maximal levels 2 weeks after D2, but SNAb decreased significantly about 6 months after D1. Although NaiveVax avidity lagged behind that of RecoVax for most of the follow-up periods, NaiveVax did reach similar avidity by about 6 months after D1. These data suggest that 1 vaccine dose elicits maximal antibody response in RecoVax and may be sufficient. Also, despite decreasing levels in TAb and SNAb over time, long-term avidity may be a measure worth evaluating and possibly correlating to vaccine efficacy.

Authors

Sabrina E. Racine-Brzostek, Jim K. Yee, Ashley Sukhu, Yuqing Qiu, Sophie Rand, Paul D. Barone, Ying Hao, He S. Yang, Qing H. Meng, Fred S. Apple, Yuanyuan Shi, Amy Chadburn, Encouse Golden, Silvia C. Formenti, Melissa M. Cushing, Zhen Zhao

×

Figure 4

SARS-CoV-2 antibody profile of RecoVax and NaiveVax cohorts from baseline to about 6 months postvaccination.

Options: View larger image (or click on image) Download as PowerPoint
SARS-CoV-2 antibody profile of RecoVax and NaiveVax cohorts from baselin...
TAb antibody response (A), SNAb levels (B), avidity (C), and anti-S (D) of RecoVax individuals (red circle; total n = 66) and NaiveVax individuals (blue triangle; total n = 201) after the first (D1) and second (D2) doses of the vaccine. Comparisons were made at baseline (median 1 day; IQR 0–6 days after D1), prior to D2 (median 16 days after D1; IQR 15–21), approximately 2 weeks after D2 (median 35 days after D1; IQR 34–36), approximately 4 weeks after D2 (median 49 days after D1; IQR 49–52), approximately 3 months after D1 (median 100 days after D1; IQR 97–105), and approximately 6 months after D1 (median 168 days after D1; IQR 164–170). Horizontal black lines represent median values and whiskers represent 95% CI. Wilcoxon’s rank-sum was used for paired comparison while Kruskal-Wallis test was used for the comparison of 3 or more groups. S, spike.