The COVID-19 mRNA BNT163b2 Vaccine Was Well Tolerated and Highly Immunogenic in Young Adults in Long Follow-Up after Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
Agnieszka Matkowska-Kocjan,
Joanna Owoc-Lempach,
Joanna Chruszcz,
Edwin Kuźnik,
Filip Szenborn,
Lidia Jurczenko,
Marta Wójcik,
Dorota Banyś,
Leszek Szenborn,
Marek Ussowicz
Affiliations
Agnieszka Matkowska-Kocjan
Department and Clinic of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-368 Wrocław, Poland
Joanna Owoc-Lempach
Department and Clinic of Paediatric Oncology, Haematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-556 Wrocław, Poland
Joanna Chruszcz
Department and Clinic of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-368 Wrocław, Poland
Edwin Kuźnik
Department of Angiology, Hypertension and Diabetology, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-529 Wrocław, Poland
Filip Szenborn
Faculty of Electronics, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, 50-370 Wrocław, Poland
Lidia Jurczenko
Department and Clinic of Paediatric Oncology, Haematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-556 Wrocław, Poland
Marta Wójcik
Department and Clinic of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-368 Wrocław, Poland
Dorota Banyś
Department and Clinic of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-368 Wrocław, Poland
Leszek Szenborn
Department and Clinic of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-368 Wrocław, Poland
Marek Ussowicz
Department and Clinic of Paediatric Oncology, Haematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-556 Wrocław, Poland
Sixty five patients (18–31 years) who had received allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (3–27 years from HSCT) were evaluated for the tolerance and immunogenicity of the COVID-19 mRNA BNT163b2 vaccine. Methods: Patients were vaccinated with two doses at 5 weeks interval. After each dose, patients completed a survey concerning adverse events (AE) and anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies were measured before the first vaccine dose (1stVD) and 14–21 days after the second dose (2ndVD). AE reported after 1stVD and 2ndVD, respectively were: fever 0%, 1.7%; fatigue 15.4%, 25.8%; headache 15.4%, 24.1%; chills 6.1%, 12.0%; muscle pain 15.4%, 24.1%; joint pain 3.0%, 6.9%; nausea 6.1%, 6.9%; pain at injection site 30.7%, 34.4%; swelling 3.0%, 10.3%; redness 0, 3.4%; pruritus 0, 5.2%; and axillary lymphadenopathy 3.0%, 1.7%. After 2ndVD, 96.5% patients were positive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 (GMC 3290.94 BAU/mL). No correlation presented between the antibody titer and symptoms of chronic Graft-versus-Host disease, total IgG, lymphocyte CD4+, or AE. Significantly higher titers were observed in COVID-19 convalescents, and inverse correlation (R2 = −0.0925, p = 0.02) between the time from HSCT and titers after 2ndVD was present. Conclusions: The young adults after HSCT tolerate the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine well and show immunologic response.
