TY - JOUR
TI - Immune response (IgG) following full inoculation with BNT162b2 COVID-19
mRNA among healthcare professionals
AU - Tsatsakis, Aristidis
AU - Vakonaki, Elena
AU - Tzatzarakis, Manolis and
AU - Flamourakis, Matthaios
AU - Nikolouzakis, Taxiarchis Konstantinos and
AU - Poulas, Konstantinos
AU - Papazoglou, Georgios
AU - Hatzidaki, Eleftheria
AU - and Papanikolaou, Nikolas C.
AU - Drakoulis, Nikolaos
AU - Iliaki,
AU - Evangelia
AU - Goulielmos, Georgios N.
AU - Kallionakis, Manolis and
AU - Lazopoulos, Georgios
AU - Kteniadakis, Stelios
AU - Alegkakis, Athanasios
AU - and Farsalinos, Konstantinos
AU - Spandidos, Demetrios A.
JO - International Journal of Molecular Medicine
PY - 2021
VL - 48
TODO - 5
SP - null
PB - SPANDIDOS PUBL LTD
SN - 1107-3756, 1791-244X
TODO - 10.3892/ijmm.2021.5033
TODO - antibody titers; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; vaccination; BNT162b2 COVID-19
mRNA; IgG
TODO - Soon after the beginning of the severe acute respiratory syndrome
coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic in December, 2019, numerous research
teams, assisted by vast capital investments, achieved vaccine
development in a fraction of time. However, almost 8 months following
the initiation of the European vaccination programme, the need for
prospective monitoring of the vaccine-induced immune response, its
determinants and related side-effects remains a priority. The present
study aimed to quantify the immune response following full vaccination
with the BNT162b2 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mRNA vaccine by
measuring the levels of immunoglobulin G (IgG) titers in healthcare
professionals. Moreover, common side-effects and factors associated with
IgG titers were identified. For this purpose, blood samples from 517
individuals were obtained and analysed. Blood sampling was performed at
a mean period of 69.0 +/- 23.5 days following the second dose of the
vaccine. SARS-CoV-2 IgG titers had an overall mean value of 4.23 +/-
2.76. Females had higher titers than males (4.44 +/- 2.70 and 3.89 +/-
2.84, respectively; P=0.007), while non-smokers had higher titers than
smokers (4.48 +/- 2.79 and 3.80 +/- 2.64, respectively; P=0.003). An
older age was also associated with lower antibody titers (P<0.001).
Moreover, the six most prevalent adverse effects were pain at the
injection site (72.1%), generalized fatigue (40.5%), malaise (36.3%),
myalgia (31,0%), headache (25.8%) and dizziness/weakness (21.6%). The
present study demonstrated that the immune response after receiving the
BNT162b2 COVID-19 mRNA vaccine is dependent on various modifiable and
non-modifiable factors. Overall, the findings of the present study
highlight two key aspects of the vaccination programs: First, the need
for prospective immunosurveillance studies in order to estimate the
duration of immunity, and second, the need to identify those individuals
who are at a greater risk of developing low IgG titers in order to
evaluate the need for a third dose of the vaccine.
ER -