6 month serologic response to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine among healthcare workers

by Jason Cham, Amitabh C. Pandey, Jacob New, Tridu Huynh, Lee Hong, Natalia Orendain, Eric J. Topol, Laura J. Nicholson

Aim

Healthcare workers (HCWs) were among the first group of people vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine (BNT162b2). Characterization of the kinetics of antibody response to vaccination is important to devise future vaccination strategies. To better characterize the antibody response to BNT162b2, we analyzed the kinetics of IgG and IgM antibody response to 5 different SARS-CoV-2 epitopes over a period of 6 months.

Methods and results

An observational single-centered study was conducted to evaluate the temporal dynamics of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies following immunization with two doses of BNT162b2. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were assessed using the Maverick SARS-CoV-2 multi-antigen panel (Genalyte Inc.). Healthcare workers aged ≥18 receiving BNT162b2 vaccination who self-reported no prior symptoms of COVID-19 nor prior COVID-19 PCR test positivity, were included in this study. HCWs developed an IgG antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 Spike S1, Spike S1 receptor binding domain (RBD), Spike S1S2 and Spike S2 after vaccination. IgG response was observed at two weeks following immunization in most participant samples and continued to increase at week 4, but subsequently decreased significantly starting at 3 months and up to 6 months. In contrast, IgM response to respective epitopes was minimal.

Conclusion

Multiplex results demonstrate that, contrary to natural infection, immunization with BNT162b2 produces minimal anti-Spike IgM response. Polyclonal IgG response to Spike declined at 3 months and continued to do so up to 6 months.