Demographic and clinical characteristics associated with variations in antibody response to BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccination among healthcare workers at an academic medical centre: a longitudinal cohort analysis

• Published in: BMJ open Vol. 12; no. 5; p. e059994
• Main Authors: Ebinger, Joseph E, Joung, Sandy, Liu, Yunxian, Wu, Min, Weber, Brittany, Claggett, Brian, Botting, Patrick G, Sun, Nancy, Driver, Matthew, Kao, Yu Hung, Khuu, Briana, Wynter, Timothy, Nguyen, Trevor-Trung, Alotaibi, Mona, Prostko, John C, Frias, Edwin C, Stewart, James L, Goodridge, Helen S, Chen, Peter, Jordan, Stanley C, Jain, Mohit, Sharma, Sonia, Fert-Bober, Justyna, Van Eyk, Jennifer E, Minissian, Margo B, Arditi, Moshe, Melmed, Gil Y, Braun, Jonathan G, McGovern, Dermot P B, Cheng, Susan, Sobhani, Kimia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England British Medical Journal Publishing Group 24.05.2022; BMJ Publishing Group LTD; BMJ Publishing Group
• Series: Original research
• Subjects: Academic Medical Centers; Adult; Age; Antibodies; Antibodies, Viral; Antibody Formation; BNT162 Vaccine; Cohort analysis; Cohort Studies; Comorbidity; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - prevention & control; COVID-19 Vaccines; Demography; Drug dosages; Ethnicity; Female; Health Personnel; Humans; Hypertension; Immunoglobulin G; Infections; Infectious Diseases; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Medical personnel; Middle Aged; Prospective Studies; Proteins; SARS-CoV-2; Serology; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Vaccination; Variables; Work environment; Workers; COVID-19; hypertension; infectious diseases
• ISSN: 2044-6055; 2044-6055
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-059994

ObjectivesWe sought to understand the demographic and clinical factors associated with variations in longitudinal antibody response following completion of two-dose regiment of BNT162b2 vaccination.DesignThis study is a 10-month longitudinal cohort study of healthcare workers and serially measured anti-spike protein IgG (IgG-S) antibody levels using mixed linear models to examine their associations with participant characteristics.SettingA large, multisite academic medical centre in Southern California, USA.ParticipantsA total of 843 healthcare workers met inclusion criteria including completion of an initial two-dose course of BNT162b2 vaccination, complete clinical history and at least two blood samples for analysis. Patients had an average age of 45±13 years, were 70% female and 7% with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection.ResultsVaccine-induced IgG-S levels remained in the positive range for 99.6% of individuals up to 10 months after initial two-dose vaccination. Prior SARS-CoV-2 infection was the primary correlate of sustained higher postvaccination IgG-S levels (partial R2=0.133), with a 1.74±0.11 SD higher IgG-S response (p<0.001). Female sex (beta 0.27±0.06, p<0.001), younger age (0.01±0.00, p<0.001) and absence of hypertension (0.17±0.08, p=0.003) were also associated with persistently higher IgG-S responses. Notably, prior SARS-CoV-2 infection augmented the associations of sex (−0.42 for male sex, p=0.08) and modified the associations of hypertension (1.17, p=0.001), such that infection-naïve individuals with hypertension had persistently lower IgG-S levels whereas prior infected individuals with hypertension exhibited higher IgG-S levels that remained augmented over time.ConclusionsWhile the IgG-S antibody response remains in the positive range for up to 10 months following initial mRNA vaccination in most adults, determinants of sustained higher antibody levels include prior SARS-CoV-2 infection, female sex, younger age and absence of hypertension. Certain determinants of the longitudinal antibody response appear significantly modified by prior infection status. These findings offer insights regarding factors that may influence the ‘hybrid’ immunity conferred by natural infection combined with vaccination.