SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Vaccine Response in Liver Transplant Recipients

Organ transplant recipients are at increased risk of contracting severe Covid due to their chronic immunosuppression, having both a significant increase in morbidity and mortality. Attempts to mitigate the contraction of COVID-19, the expeditious role out of the vaccines was first offered to those in this vulnerable subclass. Quickly established was the need for further booster doses to promote the immunological response in the immunosuppressed. This paper is a uni-centred study, exploring the anti-receptor binding domain (RBD) and anti-Spike immunoglobulin levels in a small subset of liver transplant recipients in Adelaide, South Australia, pre- and post 3rd administration of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Peripheral bloods samples taken were compared to a group of health controls. The data showed that a minimum of three doses of the vaccine were required in the liver transplant patients, in order to express both anti-RBD and anti-Spike IgG to levels that were statistically comparable to that of healthy individuals.