Solid-organ transplant recipients have, so far, seen a weak immune response to one or two doses of vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. The main reason for poor response to the vaccine in these patients is because of their strong immunosupression (glucocorticoids, calcineurin inhibitors, mycophenolic acid, mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors, and/or belatacept).
This study takes a look at 101 kidney, liver, lung, hear, or pancreas recipients who were given a third dose of BNT162b2 (Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine) about 2 months after the second dose. Antibody levels were measured before doses 1, 2, and 3, and one month after the 3rd.
Prevalence:
Before dose 1: 0 of 101 patients had antibodies (0%)
Before dose 2: 4 of 101 patients had antibodies (4%)
Before dose 3: 40 of 99 patients had antibodies (40%)
After dose 3: 67 of 99 patients had antibodies (68%)
*44% of the patients who had no antibodies after 2 doses had antibodies after the 3rd!
Levels:
Before dose 3 (after 2 doses): 36 +- 12
After dose 3 (after 3 doses): 2676 +- 350
Overall, this is great news! A third dose can significantly improve the vaccine immunogenicity in solid-organ transplant patients who are currently at lower benefit with 2 doses.
Posted on Instagram on July 6, 2021.