Comparison of antibody immune responses between BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in naïve and previously infected individuals
Duaa W. Al‐Sadeq, Farah M. Shurrab, Ahmed Ismail, Fathima Humaira Amanullah, Swapna Thomas, Nader Al‐Dewik, Hadi M. Yassine, Hanan F. Abdul Rahim, Laith J. Abu‐Raddad, Gheyath K. Nasrallah
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Two mRNA vaccines, Pfizer-BNT162b2 and Moderna-mRNA-1273, obtained the Emergency Use Listing by WHO for preventing COVID-19. However, little is known about the difference in antibody responses induced by these two mRNA vaccines in naïve and previously infected (PI) individuals. METHOD: We investigated the levels of anti-S-RBD (total, IgG and IgA) levels in naïve and PI individuals, 1-13 (median = 6) weeks following the second dose of either vaccine. Results in the naïve-vaccinated group, the mRNA-1273 vaccine induced significantly higher levels of anti-S-RBD total antibodies (3.5-fold; P < 0.001), IgG (2-fold, P < 0.01) and IgA (2.1-fold, P < 0.001) as compared with the BNT162b2 vaccine. In addition, both vaccines produced significantly higher anti-S-RBD total antibody levels in the PI-group compared with naïve-vaccinated group. The PI group elicited a higher level of anti-S-RBD IgG than the naïve-BNT162b2 (P = 0.05), but not more than the naïve-mRNA-1273 (P = 0.9) group. Interestingly, the PI vaccinated group elicited a comparable level of IgA ratio to the naïve-mRNA-1273 group but significantly higher than the naïve-BNT162b2 group (1.6-fold, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our results showed that the PI-vaccinated group produces a higher level of antibodies than the naïve vaccinated group, particularly for those vaccinated with BNT162b2.