Sustained but Declining Humoral Immunity Against SARS-CoV-2 at 9 Months Postvaccination With BNT162b2: A Prospective Evaluation in 309 Healthy Individuals
Evangelos Terpos,
Vangelis Karalis,
Ioannis Ntanasis-Stathopoulos,
Filia Apostolakou,
Sentiljana Gumeni,
Maria Gavriatopoulou,
Dimitris Papadopoulos,
Panagiotis Malandrakis,
Eleni-Dimitra Papanagnou,
Eleni Korompoki,
Efstathios Kastritis,
Ioannis Papassotiriou,
Ioannis P. Trougakos,
Meletios A. Dimopoulos
Affiliations
Evangelos Terpos
1 Department of Clinical Therapeutics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Vangelis Karalis
2 Section of Pharmaceutical Technology, Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Ioannis Ntanasis-Stathopoulos
1 Department of Clinical Therapeutics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Filia Apostolakou
3 Department of Clinical Biochemistry, “Aghia Sophia” Children’s Hospital, Athens, Greece
Sentiljana Gumeni
4 Department of Cell Biology and Biophysics, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Maria Gavriatopoulou
1 Department of Clinical Therapeutics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Dimitris Papadopoulos
2 Section of Pharmaceutical Technology, Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Panagiotis Malandrakis
1 Department of Clinical Therapeutics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Eleni-Dimitra Papanagnou
4 Department of Cell Biology and Biophysics, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Eleni Korompoki
1 Department of Clinical Therapeutics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Efstathios Kastritis
1 Department of Clinical Therapeutics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Ioannis Papassotiriou
3 Department of Clinical Biochemistry, “Aghia Sophia” Children’s Hospital, Athens, Greece
Ioannis P. Trougakos
4 Department of Cell Biology and Biophysics, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Meletios A. Dimopoulos
1 Department of Clinical Therapeutics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
The sustainability of coronavirus 19 (COVID-19) vaccine-induced immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is critical to be determined to inform public health decisions on vaccination programs and prevention measures against COVID-19. The aim of the present study was to prospectively evaluate the kinetics of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) and anti-S-receptor binding domain (RBD IgGs) against SARS-CoV-2 after full vaccination with the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine for up to 9 months in healthy individuals (NCT04743388). The assessments were performed at the following time points after the second vaccination: 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 9 months. The measurements were performed with the GenScript’s cPassTM SARS-CoV-2 NAbs Detection Kit (GenScript, Inc.; Piscataway, NJ) and the Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S assay (Roche Diagnostics GmbH; Mannheim, Germany). Three hundred nine participants with a median age of 48 years were included. A gradual decline in both NAbs and anti-S-RBD IgGs became evident from 2 weeks to 9 months postvaccination. Both NAbs and anti-S-RBD IgGs levels were significantly lower at 9 months compared with the previous timepoints. Interestingly, age was found to exert a statistically significant effect on NAbs elimination only during the first-trimester postvaccination, as older age was associated with a more rapid clearance of NAbs. Furthermore, simulation studies predicted that the median NAb value would fall from 66% at 9 months to 59% and 45% at 12 and 18 months postvaccination, respectively. This finding may reflect a declining degree of immune protection against COVID-19 and advocates for the administration of booster vaccine shots especially in areas with emerging outbreaks.
