A Third Dose COVID-19 Vaccination in Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Patients
Marika Watanabe,
Kimikazu Yakushijin,
Yohei Funakoshi,
Goh Ohji,
Hiroya Ichikawa,
Hironori Sakai,
Wataru Hojo,
Miki Saeki,
Yuri Hirakawa,
Sakuya Matsumoto,
Rina Sakai,
Shigeki Nagao,
Akihito Kitao,
Yoshiharu Miyata,
Taiji Koyama,
Yasuyuki Saito,
Shinichiro Kawamoto,
Katsuya Yamamoto,
Mitsuhiro Ito,
Tohru Murayama,
Hiroshi Matsuoka,
Hironobu Minami
Affiliations
Marika Watanabe
Division of Medical Oncology/Hematology, Department of Medicine, Kobe University Hospital Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Kimikazu Yakushijin
Division of Medical Oncology/Hematology, Department of Medicine, Kobe University Hospital Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Yohei Funakoshi
Division of Medical Oncology/Hematology, Department of Medicine, Kobe University Hospital Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Goh Ohji
Division of Infectious Disease Therapeutics, Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Hiroya Ichikawa
Division of Medical Oncology/Hematology, Department of Medicine, Kobe University Hospital Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Hironori Sakai
R&D, Cellspect Co., Ltd., Morioka 020-0857, Japan
Wataru Hojo
R&D, Cellspect Co., Ltd., Morioka 020-0857, Japan
Miki Saeki
Division of Medical Oncology/Hematology, Department of Medicine, Kobe University Hospital Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Yuri Hirakawa
Division of Medical Oncology/Hematology, Department of Medicine, Kobe University Hospital Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Sakuya Matsumoto
Division of Medical Oncology/Hematology, Department of Medicine, Kobe University Hospital Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Rina Sakai
Division of Medical Oncology/Hematology, Department of Medicine, Kobe University Hospital Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Shigeki Nagao
Division of Medical Oncology/Hematology, Department of Medicine, Kobe University Hospital Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Akihito Kitao
Division of Medical Oncology/Hematology, Department of Medicine, Kobe University Hospital Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Yoshiharu Miyata
BioResource Center, Kobe University Hospital, Kobe 650-0047, Japan
Taiji Koyama
Division of Medical Oncology/Hematology, Department of Medicine, Kobe University Hospital Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Yasuyuki Saito
Division of Molecular and Cellular Signaling, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Shinichiro Kawamoto
Division of Medical Oncology/Hematology, Department of Medicine, Kobe University Hospital Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Katsuya Yamamoto
Division of Medical Oncology/Hematology, Department of Medicine, Kobe University Hospital Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Mitsuhiro Ito
Division of Medical Oncology/Hematology, Department of Medicine, Kobe University Hospital Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Tohru Murayama
Division of Medical Oncology/Hematology, Department of Medicine, Kobe University Hospital Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Hiroshi Matsuoka
BioResource Center, Kobe University Hospital, Kobe 650-0047, Japan
Hironobu Minami
Division of Medical Oncology/Hematology, Department of Medicine, Kobe University Hospital Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
We previously reported that a second dose of BNT162b2 was safe and effective for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) patients. Here, we investigated the safety and efficacy of a third dose of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine in allogeneic HSCT patients. Antibody titers against the S1 spike protein were measured using the QuaResearch COVID-19 Human IgM IgG ELISA kit. The previous study included 25 allogeneic HSCT patients who received two doses of BNT162b2. Following the exclusion of three patients because of the development of COVID-19 (n = 2) and loss to follow-up (n = 1), the study evaluated 22 allogeneic HSCT patients who received a third dose of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine (BNT162b2 [n = 15] and mRNA-1273 [n = 7]). Median age at the time of the first vaccination was 56 (range, 23–71) years. Five patients were receiving immunosuppressants at the third vaccination, namely calcineurin inhibitors (CI) alone (n = 1), steroids alone (n = 2), or CI combined with steroids (n = 2). Twenty-one patients (95%) seroconverted after the third dose. None of our patients had serious adverse events, new-onset graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), or GVHD exacerbation after vaccination. A third dose of the BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccines was safe and effective for allogeneic HSCT patients.
