Comparative Immunogenicity of BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccine with Natural SARS-CoV-2 Infection

  1. Mina Psichogiou
  2. Andreas Karabinis
  3. Garyphallia Poulakou
  4. Anastasia Antoniadou
  5. Anastasia Kotanidou
  6. Dimitrios Degiannis
  7. Ioanna D. Pavlopoulou
  8. Antigoni Chaidaroglou
  9. Sotirios Roussos
  10. Elpida Mastrogianni
  11. Irene Eliadi
  12. Dimitrios Basoulis
  13. Konstantinos Petsios
  14. Konstantinos Leontis
  15. Eleni Kakalou
  16. Konstantinos Protopapas
  17. Edison Jahaj
  18. Maria Pratikaki
  19. Konstantinos N. Syrigos
  20. Pagona Lagiou
  21. Helen Gogas
  22. Sotirios Tsiodras
  23. Gkikas Magiorkinis
  24. Dimitrios Paraskevis
  25. Vana Sypsa
  26. Angelos Hatzakis

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Abstract

BNT162b2 has proven to be highly effective, but there is a paucity of data regarding immunogenicity factors and comparison between response to vaccination and natural infection. This study included 871 vaccinated healthcare workers (HCW) and 181 patients with natural infection. Immunogenicity was assessed by measuring anti-SARS-CoV-2 against the RBD domain of the spike protein (anti-RBD). Samples were collected 1–2 weeks after vaccination or 15–59 days post-onset of symptoms. Post-vaccine anti-RBD concentrations were associated with age, gender, vaccination side-effects (VSE) and prior infection (Pr-CoV). Anti-RBD median levels (95%CI) were lower by 2466 (651–5583), 6228 (3254–9203) and 7651 (4479–10,823) AU/mL in 35–44, 45–54, 55–70 yrs, respectively, compared with the 18–34 yrs group. In females, the median levels were higher by 2823 (859–4787), 5024 (3122–6926) in individuals with VSE, and 9971 (5158–14,783) AU/mL in HCWs with Pr-CoV. The ratio of anti-RBD in vaccinated individuals versus those with natural infection varied from 1.0 to 19.4. The high immunogenicity of BNT162b2 is verified, although its sustainability has yet to be elucidated. The use of comparative data from natural infection serological panels, expressing the clinical heterogeneity of natural infection, may facilitate early decisions for candidate vaccines to be evaluated in clinical trials.

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  1. Version published to 10.3390/vaccines9091017
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.06.15.21258669: (What is this?)

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

    Table 1: Rigor

    EthicsConsent: HCWs from 2 teaching hospitals, Laiko General Hospital (Hospital 1) and Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center (Hospital 2) were informed about the study and participated after signing an informed consent.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    : Serum samples collected after venipuncture, were tested for SARS-CoV-2 IgG binding antibodies to nucleocapsid protein (anti-N) and anti-SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD) spike protein IgG (anti-RBD).
    SARS-CoV-2 IgG binding antibodies to nucleocapsid protein (anti-N)
    suggested: None
    anti-SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD) spike protein IgG
    suggested: None
    anti-RBD
    suggested: None
    The second assay (Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG II Quant) or anti-RBD was used to quantify IgG antibodies against the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the S1 subunit of the spike protein.
    quantify IgG
    suggested: None
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    The correlation coefficient in weighted linear regression of WHO standard with the Abbott anti-RBD is 0.999, and transformation of Abbott anti-RBD AU/ml to WHO BAU/ml is feasible using the equation BAU/ml = 0.142 x AU/ml [25].
    Abbott
    suggested: (Abbott, RRID:SCR_010477)

    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:
    The major limitation is the lack of cell-mediated immunity tests to capture aspects of T and B cell immunity. Prospective evaluation of vaccine immunogenicity in large, vaccinated cohorts is underway and the comparison, with prospective data from natural infection may clarify important questions of COVID-19 pathogenesis and vaccine effectiveness over time.

    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.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2021.06.15.21258669v1 on medRxiv