Antibody levels following vaccination against SARS-CoV-2: associations with post-vaccination infection and risk factors in two UK longitudinal studies.
Creators: name: Cheetham, Nathan J
name: Kibble, Milla
name: Wong, Andrew
name: Silverwood, Richard J
name: Knuppel, Anika
name: Williams, Dylan M
name: Hamilton, Olivia KL
name: Lee, Paul H
name: Bridger Staatz, Charis
name: Di Gessa, Giorgio
name: Zhu, Jingmin
name: Katikireddi, Srinivasa Vittal
name: Ploubidis, George B
name: Thompson, Ellen J
name: Bowyer, Ruth CE
name: Zhang, Xinyuan
name: Abbasian, Golboo
name: Garcia, Maria Paz
name: Hart, Deborah
name: Seow, Jeffrey
name: Graham, Carl
name: Kouphou, Neophytos
name: Acors, Sam
name: Malim, Michael H
name: Mitchell, Ruth E
name: Northstone, Kate
name: Major-Smith, Daniel
name: Matthews, Sarah
name: Breeze, Thomas
name: Crawford, Michael
name: Molloy, Lynn
name: Kwong, Alex SF
name: Doores, Katie
name: Chaturvedi, Nishi
name: Duncan, Emma L
name: Timpson, Nicholas J
name: Steves, Claire J
Publisher: name: Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository
Year: 2023
Subjects: Research Article
Epidemiology and Global Health
Medicine
COVID-19
SARS-CoV-2
antibodies
vaccination
TwinsUK
ALSPAC
Human

description: Peer reviewed: True
description: Background: SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels can be used to assess humoral immune responses following SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination, and may predict risk of future infection. Higher levels of SARS-CoV-2 anti-Spike antibodies are known to be associated with increased protection against future SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, variation in antibody levels and risk factors for lower antibody levels following each round of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination have not been explored across a wide range of socio-demographic, SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination, and health factors within population-based cohorts. Methods: Samples were collected from 9,361 individuals from TwinsUK and ALSPAC UK population-based longitudinal studies and tested for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Cross-sectional sampling was undertaken jointly in April-May 2021 (TwinsUK, N = 4,256; ALSPAC, N = 4,622), and in TwinsUK only in November 2021-January 2022 (N = 3,575). Variation in antibody levels after first, second, and third SARS-CoV-2 vaccination with health, socio-demographic, SARS-CoV-2 infection and SARS-CoV-2 vaccination variables were analysed. Using multivariable logistic regression models, we tested associations between antibody levels following vaccination and: (1) SARS-CoV-2 infection following vaccination(s); (2) health, socio-demographic, SARS-CoV-2 infection and SARS-CoV-2 vaccination variables. Results: Within TwinsUK, single-vaccinated individuals with the lowest 20% of anti-Spike antibody levels at initial testing had 3-fold greater odds of SARS-CoV-2 infection over the next six to nine months (OR = 2.9, 95% CI: 1.4, 6.0), compared to the top 20%. In TwinsUK and ALSPAC, individuals identified as at increased risk of COVID-19 complication through the UK 'Shielded Patient List' had consistently greater odds (2- to 4-fold) of having antibody levels in the lowest 10%. Third vaccination increased absolute antibody levels for almost all individuals, and reduced relative disparities compared with earlier vaccinations. Conclusions: These findings quantify the association between antibody level and risk of subsequent infection, and support a policy of triple vaccination for the generation of protective antibodies. Funding: Antibody testing was funded by UK Health Security Agency. The National Core Studies program is funded by COVID-19 Longitudinal Health and Wellbeing - National Core Study (LHW-NCS) HMT/UKRI/MRC (MC_PC_20030 &amp; MC_PC_20059). Related funding was also provided by the NIHR 606 (CONVALESCENCE grant COV-LT-0009). TwinsUK is funded by the Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council, Versus Arthritis, European Union Horizon 2020, Chronic Disease Research Foundation (CDRF), Zoe Ltd and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network (CRN) and Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with King's College London. The UK Medical Research Council and Wellcome (Grant ref: 217065/Z/19/Z) and the University of Bristol provide core support for ALSPAC.