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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Vaccines and Molecular Therapeutics
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1446751
This article is part of the Research Topic Vaccines and Therapeutics Utilizing New Adjuvants and Potential Inhibitors to Target Emerging Infectious Diseases View all 8 articles

Characteristics of humoral responses to the first coronavirus disease booster vaccine and breakthrough infection in central China: A multicentre, prospective, longitudinal cohort study

Provisionally accepted
Junhong Xu Junhong Xu 1Youhua Yuan Youhua Yuan 1Guohua Chen Guohua Chen 2Bin Ma Bin Ma 1Yinlong Zou Yinlong Zou 3Baoya Wang Baoya Wang 1Wenjuan Yan Wenjuan Yan 1Qi Zhang Qi Zhang 1Qiong Ma Qiong Ma 1Xiaohuan Mao Xiaohuan Mao 1Huiling Wang Huiling Wang 1Yi Li Yi Li 1Xiaohuan Zhang Xiaohuan Zhang 1*
  • 1 Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, China
  • 2 Zhengzhou Chinese Medicine Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China
  • 3 Dengzhou Central Hospital, Nanyang, Henan, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The long-term immunogenicity, adverse effects, influencing factors, and protection from booster vaccines remain unclear. Specifically, little is known regarding the humoral immunity and breakthrough infections associated with COVID-19 booster immunization. Therefore, we evaluated the immunogenicity, reactogenicity, influencing factors, and protective effects of the first coronavirus disease booster vaccine 23 months before and after implementation of dynamic zero epidemic control measures among healthcare staff. Methods: We prospectively included 389 healthcare staff members in China with negative pre-enrolment severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 test results. Neutralising serum antibodies were evaluated every two months till months post-booster vaccination. Breakthrough infection was recorded or confirmed by SARS-CoV-2 specific PCR testing via throat swabs from participants before and after dynamic zero epidemic control measures. Results: At 15-30 days after vaccination, the mean concentration of the booster vaccine was 6.4 times above initial concentrations. Poorer antibody responses by booster vaccine correlated with male sex, longer post-booster duration, same-manufacturer vaccines, post-routine epidemic control measures implementation and intervals >210 days between primary and booster vaccinations. Higher breakthrough rates were associated with longer post-booster durations and postroutine epidemic control measures implementation but not associated with levels of neutralising antibodies after booster vaccination from participants. Adverse reactions were non-serious. These booster vaccine doses induced rapid, robust antibody responses, maintained for only 6-7 months. Discussion: Neutralizing antibodies induced by breakthrough infection with SARS-CoV-2 were weaker than those induced by the first COVID-19 booster vaccine, predicting that antibodies induced by SARS-CoV-2 may be very different from those of other known infectious pathogens.

    Keywords: Breakthrough infections, COVID-19, humoral immunity, Kinetics, Neutralising antibodies, Booster immunization

    Received: 10 Jun 2024; Accepted: 16 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Xu, Yuan, Chen, Ma, Zou, Wang, Yan, Zhang, Ma, Mao, Wang, Li and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Xiaohuan Zhang, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.