People who have survived Covid-19 develop extremely high levels of antibodies in their blood after the first dose of Pfizer / BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine.
A second dose of Pfizer / BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine against Covid-19 is not necessary for those who have recovered. What has long been deduced by scientists from a wide variety of findings is now confirmed by a publication by Viennese laboratory physicians in the European Journal of Clinical Investigation. People who have survived Covid-19 develop extremely high levels of antibodies in their blood after the first dose of the BNT162b2 vaccine.
“The shortage of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in many regions of the world represents a challenge for those responsible for politics and for experts. exist for people without prior infection, the question arises from an immunological point of view whether the antibody formation is different in these two groups “, write Thomas Perkmann from the Clinical Department for Laboratory Medicine at MedUniWien / AKH and his co-authors in the introduction to the beginning August published study.
The matter is highly relevant. In Austria alone, more than 660,000 people have already had a SARS-CoV-2 infection, and there are more than 200 million worldwide. The question of how to proceed with a subsequent vaccination has arisen de facto since the first vaccine was available: one or two vaccinations? That makes a huge difference in vaccine delivery.
“After an infection, you only need one vaccination,” said the Viennese expert Robert Strassl from the Department of Clinical Virology (MedUni Vienna / AKH) at an advanced training course at the beginning of June this year. The one dose to be administered is, so to speak, the “booster” that people without a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection received with the second partial vaccination.
Perkmann and his co-authors have proven this in their study on 69 people without a previous infection (seronegative) and twelve recovered from Covid-19: All received a dose of the mRNA Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer / BioNTech. After 21 days they were examined for the concentration of antibodies in the blood. This was done with two independent test methods (Roche and DiaSorin) and measured the formation of antibodies against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. All vaccines used to date aim to induce such an immune response.
Big difference in antibody concentration
“After a single dose of BNT162b2, people after a ‘natural’ SARS-CoV-2 infection showed significantly higher anti-S (antibody) levels than ‘naive’ (previously uninfected; note) subjects,” the scientists said in their summary. Depending on the test method, the antibody concentration after the first vaccination of those who had recovered differed more than a hundred times or more than 20 times from that of those who had been vaccinated for the first time without a previous Covid-19 episode.
A so-called surrogate test (sVNT) was also used to determine whether the anti-S antibodies actually neutralized viruses. This was the case with a value of 98 percent, which speaks for a very high neutralization capacity.
The Viennese scientists did not stop there. 69 subjects without SARS-CoV-2 infection and with a primary vaccination and all twelve recovered study participants with a vaccination finally received the second dose of the mRNA vaccine. As a result, the antibody concentration in the people without SARS-CoV-2 disease increased by 25 times compared to the value after the initial vaccination. In the people with previous SARS-CoV-2 disease, the antibody concentration only increased by about half compared to the concentration after the first dose.
Overall, the antibody response in the study participants after recovery was significantly higher than in the SARS-CoV-2 “naive”. This could indicate that a confrontation of the immune system with the whole virus – not just with virus components – causes a stronger defense reaction. Inactivated vaccines under development may have a similar effect.
In any case, according to these study results, one can save the double vaccination of SARS-CoV-2 convalescents. However, it would be important that international vaccination passports, green passports, etc., clearly identify the existing vaccination protection for such persons, even with a partial vaccination. It was only at the end of last week that Austrian travelers (survived SARS-CoV-2 and documented by findings, a dose of mRNA vaccine also documented in the vaccination certificate) had long discussions when checking in at the airport of Samos in Greece whether they should now be with the Aircraft are allowed to fly home or not.
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