Infection and Drug Resistance (Apr 2022)
Safety and Immunogenicity of Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccines Among People Living with HIV in China
Abstract
Xiaoxu Han,1 Xiaobo Yu,2 Ying Han,3 Qian Fang,3 Congle Shen,3 Hui Liu,1 Peng Wang,1 Yajie Wang,3 Xin Li1 1Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100015, People’s Republic of China; 2State Key Laboratory of Proteomics, Beijing Proteome Research Center, National Center for Protein Sciences-Beijing (PHOENIX Center), Beijing Institute of Lifeomics, Beijing, 102200, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Clinical Laboratory, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100015, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Yajie Wang, Department of Clinical Laboratory, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, 8 Jingshundong Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100015, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected] Xin Li, Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, 8 Jingshundong Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100015, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-1084322130, Email [email protected]: Vaccination reduces the incidence of severe COVID-19 and death and effectively limits viral spread. Concerns have been raised about COVID-19 vaccine responses in the large population of HIV-infected patients. This study aims to explore the safety and immunogenicity of the inactivated COVID-19 vaccine in people living with HIV (PLWH).Patients and Methods: All participants in this study already had their second dose of an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days earlier, without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The primary safety outcomes were the incidence of adverse reactions and changes in CD4+ T-cell counts. SARS-CoV-2 IgG and neutralizing antibody responses to the D614G variant and delta variant were measured for immune response assessment.Results: Forty-seven HIV-infected patients and 18 healthy donors (HDs) were enrolled in this study. Adverse reactions were mild or self-limiting and were reported in 19.1% of HIV-infected patients. Most PLWH developed antibody responses against the inactivated COVID-19 vaccine. The longitudinal analysis of antibody responses in PLWH (median interval between detection and complete vaccination, 59 days) showed that antibodies were maintained for at least three months, though their titers were reduced. However, the antibody-positive rates in PLWH were significantly lower than those in HDs. Additionally, compared to HDs (Geomean titers (GMT) of 165 for D614G and GMT of 72 for delta), the neutralizing antibody titers against the two variants in PLWH (GMT of 43 for D614G and GMT 13 for delta) were decreased significantly (p = 0.018 and p < 0.001, respectively). HIV-infected patients with CD4+T-cell counts ≤ 350 cells/μL appeared to exhibit a poor antibody response to inactivated vaccination.Conclusion: Inactivated COVID-19 vaccines appear to be efficacious in PLWH. However, antibody responses in HIV-infected patients are inferior to those in healthy individuals, especially PLWH with lower CD4+T-cell counts.Keywords: human immunodeficiency virus, coronavirus disease 2019, inactivated vaccines, immunogenicity, safety
