Limited data are available on the short- to midterm levels of antibodies to the CoronaVac vaccine and quantitative change in humoral response after homologous or heterologous booster doses. In this prospective cohort study, we evaluated the anti-receptor-binding domain (RBD) immunoglobulin G (IgG) levels after two doses of CoronaVac and heterologous/homologous booster administration among healthcare workers in a university hospital in Turkey. Quantitative anti-RBD IgG antibody levels were measured at first and fourth months in 560 healthcare workers who had completed two doses of CoronaVac vaccine, and within 2 months after the third dose of CoronaVac or BNT162b2. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire during the first blood draw. The seropositivity rate was 98.9% and 89.1%, and the median antibody level was 469.2 AU/ml and 166.5 AU/ml at first and fourth month, respectively. In the fourth month, a mean reduction of 61.4% ± 20% in antibody levels was observed in 79.8% of the participants. The presence of chronic disease (odds ratio [OR]: 1.76, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.15-2.69) and being in the 36-50 age group (OR: 2.11, 95% CI: 1.39-3.19) were identified as independent predictors for low antibody response. The antibody level increased 104.8-fold (median: 17 609.4 vs. 168 AU/ml) and 8.7-fold (median: 1237.9 vs. 141.4 AU/ml) in the participants who received BNT162b2 and CoronaVac, respectively. During the follow-up, 25 healthcare workers (4.5%) were infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Considering the waning immunity and circulating variants, a single booster dose of messenger RNA vaccine seems reasonable after the inactivated vaccine especially in risk groups.
Keywords: BNT162b2; CoronaVac; SARS-CoV-2; antibody; heterologous vaccination.
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