Abstract
The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants has raised concern about increased transmissibility, infectivity, and immune evasion from a vaccine and infection-induced immune responses. Although COVID-19 mRNA vaccines have proven to be highly effective against severe COVID-19 disease, the decrease in vaccine efficacy against emerged Beta and Delta variants emphasizes the need for constant monitoring of new virus lineages and studies on the persistence of vaccine-induced neutralizing antibodies. To analyze the dynamics of COVID-19 mRNA vaccine-induced antibody responses, we followed 52 health care workers in Finland for 6 months after receiving two doses of BNT162b2 vaccine with a 3-week interval. We demonstrate that, although anti-S1 antibody levels decrease 2.3-fold compared to peak antibody levels, anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies persist for months after BNT162b2 vaccination. Variants D614G, Alpha, and Eta are neutralized by sera of 100% of vaccinees, whereas neutralization of Delta is 3.8-fold reduced and neutralization of Beta is 5.8-fold reduced compared to D614G. Despite this reduction, 85% of sera collected 6 months postvaccination neutralizes Delta variant. IMPORTANCE A decrease in vaccine efficacy against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants has increased the importance of assessing the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein-specific antibodies and neutralizing antibodies. Our data show that after 6 months post two doses of BNT162b2 vaccine, antibody levels decrease yet remain detectable and capable of neutralizing emerging variants. By monitoring the vaccine-induced antibody responses, vaccination strategies and administration of booster doses can be optimized.
Keywords: COVID-19; coronavirus; vaccines.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, coronavirus, Vaccines., 【초록키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, Efficacy, Vaccine, BNT162b2 vaccine, coronavirus, vaccination, Health care, Vaccines, Neutralizing antibodies, antibody, mRNA vaccine, neutralization, variant, SARS-CoV-2 variant, vaccine efficacy, Delta, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus, delta variant, variants, mRNA vaccines, COVID-19 disease, BNT162b2, immune evasion, anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, Transmissibility, anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody, persistence, mRNA, immune responses, sera, SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, Vaccination strategies, Lineage, Health care worker, D614G, Alpha, Beta, Neutralizing, antibody levels, respiratory, booster dose, severe COVID-19 disease, specific antibodies, SARS-CoV-2 spike, administration, dose, Eta, Vaccination strategy, COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, reduction, booster doses, acute respiratory syndrome, COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, fold, new virus, vaccinees, postvaccination, responses, effective, decrease, neutralize, neutralized, collected, detectable, raised, receiving, reduced, of BNT162b2, 【제목키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, mRNA, response, Month,