Effectiveness and Safety of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination in HIV-Infected Patients-Real-World Study

• Published in: Vaccines (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 5; p. 893
• Main Authors: Bociąga-Jasik, Monika, Lara, Martyna, Raczyńska, Aleksandra, Wizner, Barbara, Polański, Stanisław, Mlicka-Kowalczyk, Ewa, Garlicki, Aleksander, Sanak, Marek
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 24.04.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Antibodies; Antigens; Care and treatment; Cell-mediated immunity; Chronic illnesses; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccines; Diabetes; Disease transmission; Drug therapy; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Epidemiology; Hepatitis; HIV; HIV (Viruses); Hospitals; Human immunodeficiency virus; Immune response; Immune response (cell-mediated); Immune response (humoral); Immune system; Immunogenicity; Immunoglobulin G; Infections; Interferon; Medical research; mRNA; mRNA vaccines; Pandemics; Patient outcomes; Proteins; Public health; Registration; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Side effects; vaccination; Vaccines; Variance analysis; γ-Interferon; Poland; United States > US; Germany; COVID-19; HIV; immunogenicity; vaccination
• ISSN: 2076-393X; 2076-393X
• DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11050893

The development of COVID-19 vaccines has been a triumph of biomedical research. However, there are still challenges, including assessment of their immunogenicity in high-risk populations, including PLWH. In the present study, we enrolled 121 PLWH aged >18 years, that were vaccinated against COVID-19 in the Polish National Vaccination Program. Patients filled in questionnaires regarding the side effects of vaccination. Epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory data were collected. The efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines was evaluated with an ELISA that detects IgG antibodies using a recombinant S1 viral protein antigen. The interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) was applied to quantitate interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) to assess cellular immunity to SARS-CoV-2. In total, 87 patients (71.9%) received mRNA vaccines (BNT162b2-76 (59.5%), mRNA-1273- 11 (9.1%)). A total of 34 patients (28.09%) were vaccinated with vector-based vaccines (ChAdOx Vaxzevria- 20 (16.52%), Ad26.COV2.S- 14 (11.6%)). A total of 95 (78.5%) of all vaccinated patients developed a protective level of IgG antibodies. Only eight PLWH (6.6%) did not develop cellular immune response. There were six patients (4.95%) that did not develop a cellular and humoral response. Analysis of variance proved that the best humoral and cellular response related to the administration of the mRNA-1273 vaccine. COVID-19 vaccines were found to be immunogenic and safe in PLWH. Vaccination with mRNA vaccines were related to better humoral and cellular responses.