Large-Scale Study of Antibody Titer Decay following BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccine or SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Abstract

Immune protection following either vaccination or infection with SARS-CoV-2 is thought to decrease over time. We designed a retrospective study, conducted at Leumit Health Services in Israel, to determine the kinetics of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies following administration of two doses of BNT162b2 vaccine, or SARS-CoV-2 infection in unvaccinated individuals. Antibody titers were measured between 31 January 2021, and 31 July 2021 in two mutually exclusive groups: (i) vaccinated individuals who received two doses of BNT162b2 vaccine and had no history of previous infection with COVID-19 and (ii) SARS-CoV-2 convalescents who had not received the vaccine. A total of 2653 individuals fully vaccinated by two doses of vaccine during the study period and 4361 convalescent patients were included. Higher SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody titers were observed in vaccinated individuals (median 1581 AU/mL IQR [533.8–5644.6]) after the second vaccination than in convalescent individuals (median 355.3 AU/mL IQR [141.2–998.7]; p < 0.001). In vaccinated subjects, antibody titers decreased by up to 38% each subsequent month while in convalescents they decreased by less than 5% per month. Six months after BNT162b2 vaccination 16.1% subjects had antibody levels below the seropositivity threshold of <50 AU/mL, while only 10.8% of convalescent patients were below <50 AU/mL threshold after 9 months from SARS-CoV-2 infection. This study demonstrates individuals who received the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine have different kinetics of antibody levels compared to patients who had been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, with higher initial levels but a much faster exponential decrease in the first group.

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Cited by papers we hold 4

• Persistent memory despite rapid contraction of circulating T Cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination · 2023
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• Immune imprinting, breadth of variant recognition, and germinal center response in human SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination · 2022
  No notice
• Probabilistic classification of anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 antibody responses improves seroprevalence estimates · 2022
  Not checked
• Waning of IgG, Total and Neutralizing Antibodies 6 Months Post-Vaccination with BNT162b2 in Healthcare Workers · 2021
  No notice

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