Search

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, long-term immunity against SARS-CoV-2 will be globally important. Official weekly cases have not dropped below 2 million since September of 2020, and continued emergence of novel variants have created a moving target for our immune systems and public health alike. The temporal aspects of COVID-19 immunity, particularly from repeated vaccination and infection, are less well understood than short-term vaccine efficacy. In this study, we explore the impact of combined vaccination and infection, also known as hybrid immunity, and the timing thereof on the quality and quantity of antibodies produced by a cohort of 96 health care workers. We find robust neutralizing antibody responses among those with hybrid immunity against all variants, including Omicron BA.2, and we further found significantly improved neutralizing titers with longer vaccine-infection intervals up to 400 days. These results indicate that anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses undergo continual maturation following primary exposure by either vaccination or infection for at least 400 days after last antigen exposure. We show that neutralizing antibody responses improved upon secondary boosting with greater impact seen after extended intervals. Our findings may also extend to booster vaccine doses, a critical consideration in future vaccine campaign strategies.

ImportanceIndividuals with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia have significant immune disfunction, often further disrupted by treatment. While currently available COVID-19 vaccinations are highly effective in immunocompetent individuals, they are often poorly immunogenic in CLL patients. It is important to understand the role heterologous boost would have in patients who did not respond to the recommended two-dose mRNA vaccine series with a SARS-CoV-2 specific immune responseObjectiveTo characterize the immune response of two CLL patients who failed to seroconvert after initial mRNA vaccine series following a third, heterologous, COVID-19 vaccination with Ad26.COV2.S.DesignTwo subjects with CLL were enrolled in an IRB-approved observational longitudinal cohort study of the immune response to COVID-19 vaccination. After enrollment, they received a third vaccination with Ad26.COV2.S. Blood was drawn prior to original vaccination series, four weeks after mRNA vaccination, and again four weeks after third vaccination.SettingEligible subjects were approached by oncologist overseeing CLL treatment and informed about study, at time of enrollment subjects consented to join the cohort study.ParticipantsSixteen subjects enrolled in the larger CLL cohort study, of whom two subjects received a third COVID-19 vaccination and were included in this analysis. Subject 1 is CLL treatment naive, while Subject 2 is currently on active treatment.Main Outcome(s) and Measure(s)SARS-CoV-2 specific immune response, including plasma antibodies, memory B-cells, CD4 and CD8 T-cells were assessed prior to vaccination (baseline) as well as post vaccination series and post third dose.ResultsOf the two subjects who received Ad26.COV2.S doses, Subject 1 seroconverted, had RBD-specific memory B-cells as well as spike-specific CD4 T-cells while Subject 2 did not. Both subjects had a spike-specific CD8 T-cell response after original mRNA vaccination series that was further boosted after third dose (Subject 1), or remained stable (Subject 2).Conclusions and RelevanceThe results of this study, however small, is especially promising to CLL individuals who did not seroconvert following initial mRNA vaccination series. Especially those that are treatment naive, not currently in active treatment, or who may consider vaccination before beginning active treatment.

We compared the serum neutralizing antibody titers before and after two doses of the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine in ten individuals who recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection prior to vaccination to 20 individuals with no history of infection, against clinical isolates of B.1.1.7, B.1.351, P.1, and the original SARS-CoV-2 virus. Vaccination boosted pre-existing levels of anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike antibodies 10-fold in previously infected individuals, but not to levels significantly higher than those of uninfected vaccinees. However, neutralizing antibody titers increased in previously infected vaccinees relative to uninfected vaccinees against every variant tested: 5.2-fold against B.1.1.7, 6.5-fold against B.1.351, 4.3-fold against P.1, and 3.4-fold against original SARS-CoV-2. Our study indicates that a first-generation COVID-19 vaccine provides broad protection from SARS-CoV-2variants in individuals with previous infection.

We tested human sera from large, demographically balanced cohorts of BNT162b2 vaccine recipients (n=51) and COVID-19 patients (n=44) for neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 variants B.1.1.7 and B.1.351. Although the effect is more pronounced in the vaccine cohort, both B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 show significantly reduced levels of neutralization by vaccinated and convalescent sera. Age is negatively correlated with neutralization in vaccinee, and levels of variant-specific RBD antibodies are proportional to neutralizing activities.