Antibody Titer Kinetics and SARS-CoV-2 Infections Six Months after Administration with the BNT162b2 Vaccine

Background: Studies reporting the long-term humoral response after receiving the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine are important to drive future vaccination strategies. Yet, available literature is scarce. Covidiagnostix is a multicenter study designed to assess the antibody response in > 1000 healthcare professionals (HCPs) who received the BNT162b2 vaccine. Methods: Serum was tested at time-0 (T-0), before the first dose, T-1, T-2,T- and T-3, respectively, 21, 42, and 180 days after T-0. Antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid-protein were measured to assess SARS-CoV-2 infections, whereas antibodies against the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein were measured to assess the vaccine response. Neutralization activity against the D614G, B.1.1.7, and B.1.351 variants were also analyzed. Results: Six months post-vaccination HCPs showed an antibody titer decrease of approximately 70%, yet, the titer was still one order of magnitude higher than that of seropositive individuals before vaccination. We identified 12 post-vaccination infected HCPs. None showed severe symptoms. Interestingly, most of them showed titers at T-2 above the neutralization thresholds obtained from the neutralization activity experiments. Conclusion: Vaccination induces a humoral response which is well detectable even six months post-vaccination. Vaccination prevents severe COVID-19 cases, yet post-vaccination infection is possible even in the presence of a high anti-S serum antibody titer.

Automated summary

The multicenter study Covidiagnostix assessed antibody responses in over 1000 healthcare professionals who received the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine. The results showed a 70% decrease in antibody titers six months post-vaccination, but they were still significantly higher than pre-vaccination levels. Most healthcare professionals who were infected post-vaccination still maintained neutralization activity.