BNT162b2 or CoronaVac as the Third Dose against Omicron: Neutralizing Antibody Responses among Transplant Recipients Who Had Received Two Doses of CoronaVac
Çiğdem Erol,
Zeynep Ece Kuloğlu,
Bircan Kayaaslan,
Gülen Esken,
Adalet Altunsoy,
Tayfun Barlas,
Güle Çınar,
İmran Hasanoğlu,
Ebru Oruç,
Said İncir,
Alpay Azap,
Gülten Korkmaz,
Dilara Turan Gökçe,
Onur Elvan Kırımker,
Ezgi Coşkun Yenigün,
Erkan Ölçücüoğlu,
Ebru Ayvazoğlu Soy,
Süleyman Çetinkünar,
Özlem Kurt Azap,
Füsun Can,
Mehmet Haberal
Affiliations
Çiğdem Erol
Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Başkent University, Ankara 06490, Türkiye
Zeynep Ece Kuloğlu
Koç University-İşbank Center for Infectious Diseases (KUISCID), Istanbul 34010, Türkiye
Bircan Kayaaslan
Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Ankara City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye
Gülen Esken
Koç University-İşbank Center for Infectious Diseases (KUISCID), Istanbul 34010, Türkiye
Adalet Altunsoy
Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Ankara City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye
Tayfun Barlas
Koç University-İşbank Center for Infectious Diseases (KUISCID), Istanbul 34010, Türkiye
Güle Çınar
Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Ankara University, Ankara 06230, Türkiye
İmran Hasanoğlu
Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Ankara City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye
Ebru Oruç
Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Adana City Hospital, Adana 01230, Türkiye
Said İncir
Department of Medical Biochemistry, Koç University School of Medicine, Istanbul 34450, Türkiye
Alpay Azap
Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Ankara University, Ankara 06230, Türkiye
Gülten Korkmaz
Department of Hematology, Ankara City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye
Dilara Turan Gökçe
Department of Gastroenterology, Ankara City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye
Onur Elvan Kırımker
Department of General Surgery, Ankara University, Ankara 06230, Türkiye
Ezgi Coşkun Yenigün
Department of Nephrology, Ankara City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye
Erkan Ölçücüoğlu
Department of Urology, Ankara City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye
Ebru Ayvazoğlu Soy
Department of General Surgery, Transplantation, Faculty of Medicine, Başkent University, Ankara 06490, Türkiye
Süleyman Çetinkünar
Department of General Surgery, Adana City Hospital, Adana 01230, Türkiye
Özlem Kurt Azap
Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Başkent University, Ankara 06490, Türkiye
Füsun Can
Koç University-İşbank Center for Infectious Diseases (KUISCID), Istanbul 34010, Türkiye
Mehmet Haberal
Department of General Surgery, Transplantation, Faculty of Medicine, Başkent University, Ankara 06490, Türkiye
We evaluated neutralizing antibodies against the Omicron variant and Anti-Spike IgG response in solid organ (SOT) or hematopoietic stem cell (HSTC) recipients after a third dose of BNT162b2 (BNT) or CoronaVac (CV) following two doses of CV. In total, 95 participants underwent SOT (n = 62; 44 liver, 18 kidney) or HSCT (n = 27; 5 allogeneic, 22 autologous) were included from five centers in Turkey. The median time between third doses and serum sampling was 154 days (range between 15 to 381). The vaccine-induced antibody responses of both neutralizing antibodies and Anti-Spike IgGs were assessed by plaque neutralizing assay and immunoassay, respectively. Neutralizing antibody and Anti-Spike IgG levels were significantly higher in transplant patients receiving BNT compared to those receiving CV (Geometric mean (GMT):26.76 vs. 10.89; p = 0.03 and 2116 Au/mL vs. 172.1 Au/mL; p p p < 0.001). Moreover, the neutralizing antibody levels after CV were very low (GMT: 10.81) in kidney transplantation recipients and below the detection limit (<10) in liver transplant recipients. This study highlights the superiority of BNT responses against Omicron as a third dose among transplant recipients after two doses of CV. The lack of neutralizing antibodies against Omicron after CV in liver transplant recipients should be taken into consideration, particularly in countries where inactivated vaccines are available in addition to mRNA vaccines.