Antibody titers before and after booster doses of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines in healthy adults

  1. Alexis R. Demonbreun
  2. Amelia Sancilio
  3. Lauren A. Vaught
  4. Nina L. Reiser
  5. Lorenzo Pesce
  6. Elizabeth M. McNally
  7. Thomas W. McDade

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Abstract

Two-dose messenger RNA vaccines (BNT162b2/Pfizer and mRNA-1273/Moderna) against SARS-CoV-2 were rolled out in the US in December 2020, and provide protection against hospitalization and death from COVID-19 for at least six months. Breakthrough infections have increased with waning immunity and the spread of the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant in summer 2021, prompting approval of boosters for all adults over 18. We measured anti-receptor binding domain (RBD) IgG and surrogate virus neutralization of the interaction between SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and the human angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE2) receptor, before and after boosters in N=33 healthy adults. We document large antibody responses 6-10 days after booster, with antibody levels that exceed levels documented after natural infection with COVID-19, after two doses of vaccine, or after both natural infection and vaccination. Surrogate neutralization of B.1.617.2 is high but reduced in comparison with wild-type SARS-CoV-2. These data support the use of boosters to prevent breakthrough infections and suggest that antibody-mediated immunity may last longer than after the second vaccine dose.

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  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.11.19.21266555: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    EthicsIRB: All research activities were implemented under protocols approved by Northwestern University’s institutional review board (#STU00212457 and #STU00212472).
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    Results were compared with data from a prior community-based study using the same protocols, which quantified antibody responses after diagnosis of COVID-19 or administration of dose 2 of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine3.
    vaccine3
    suggested: None

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Study limitations include small sample size, short timeframe, and absence of cellular immunity measures. While waning antibodies may contribute to breakthrough infections, it is important to investigate the effects of boosters on cell-mediated immunity.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  2. Version published to 10.1101/2021.11.19.21266555v1 on medRxiv