A boost with SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine elicits strong humoral responses independently of the interval between the first two doses

Alexandra Tauzin; Shang Yu Gong; Debashree Chatterjee; Shilei Ding; Mark M Painter; Rishi R Goel; Guillaume Beaudoin-Bussières; Lorie Marchitto; Marianne Boutin; Annemarie Laumaea; James Okeny; Gabrielle Gendron-Lepage; Catherine Bourassa; Halima Medjahed; Guillaume Goyette; Justine C Williams; Yuxia Bo; Laurie Gokool; Chantal Morrisseau; Pascale Arlotto; Renée Bazin; Judith Fafard; Cécile Tremblay; Daniel E Kaufmann; Gaston De Serres; Jonathan Richard; Marceline Côté; Ralf Duerr; Valérie Martel-Laferrière; Allison R Greenplate; E John Wherry; Andrés Finzi

doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111554

A boost with SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine elicits strong humoral responses independently of the interval between the first two doses

Cell Rep. 2022 Oct 25;41(4):111554. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111554. Epub 2022 Oct 5.

Authors

Alexandra Tauzin¹, Shang Yu Gong², Debashree Chatterjee³, Shilei Ding³, Mark M Painter⁴, Rishi R Goel⁵, Guillaume Beaudoin-Bussières¹, Lorie Marchitto¹, Marianne Boutin¹, Annemarie Laumaea¹, James Okeny⁶, Gabrielle Gendron-Lepage³, Catherine Bourassa³, Halima Medjahed³, Guillaume Goyette³, Justine C Williams⁷, Yuxia Bo⁶, Laurie Gokool³, Chantal Morrisseau³, Pascale Arlotto³, Renée Bazin⁸, Judith Fafard⁹, Cécile Tremblay¹, Daniel E Kaufmann¹⁰, Gaston De Serres¹¹, Jonathan Richard¹, Marceline Côté⁶, Ralf Duerr¹², Valérie Martel-Laferrière¹, Allison R Greenplate⁵, E John Wherry⁴, Andrés Finzi¹³

Affiliations

¹ Centre de Recherche du CHUM, Montreal, QC H2X 0A9, Canada; Département de Microbiologie, Infectiologie et Immunologie, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC H2X 0A9, Canada.
² Centre de Recherche du CHUM, Montreal, QC H2X 0A9, Canada; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.
³ Centre de Recherche du CHUM, Montreal, QC H2X 0A9, Canada.
⁴ Institute for Immunology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Immune Health, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
⁵ Institute for Immunology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Immune Health, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
⁶ Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, and Center for Infection, Immunity, and Inflammation, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1H 8M5, Canada.
⁷ Immune Health, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
⁸ Héma-Québec, Affaires Médicales et Innovation, Quebec, QC G1V 5C3, Canada.
⁹ Laboratoire de Santé Publique du Québec, Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC H9X 3R5, Canada.
¹⁰ Centre de Recherche du CHUM, Montreal, QC H2X 0A9, Canada; Département de Médecine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC H3T 1J4, Canada.
¹¹ Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec, Quebec, QC H2P 1E2, Canada.
¹² Department of Microbiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
¹³ Centre de Recherche du CHUM, Montreal, QC H2X 0A9, Canada; Département de Microbiologie, Infectiologie et Immunologie, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC H2X 0A9, Canada; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada. Electronic address: andres.finzi@umontreal.ca.

Abstract

Due to the recrudescence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections worldwide, mainly caused by the Omicron variant of concern (VOC) and its sub-lineages, several jurisdictions are administering an mRNA vaccine boost. Here, we analyze humoral responses induced after the second and third doses of an mRNA vaccine in naive and previously infected donors who received their second dose with an extended 16-week interval. We observe that the extended interval elicits robust humoral responses against VOCs, but this response is significantly diminished 4 months after the second dose. Administering a boost to these individuals brings back the humoral responses to the same levels obtained after the extended second dose. Interestingly, we observe that administering a boost to individuals that initially received a short 3- to 4-week regimen elicits humoral responses similar to those observed in the long interval regimen. Nevertheless, humoral responses elicited by the boost in naive individuals do not reach those present in previously infected vaccinated individuals.

Keywords: COVID-19; CP: Immunology; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; humoral responses; long interval; spike glycoproteins; third mRNA vaccine dose; variants of concern.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Antibodies, Viral
BNT162 Vaccine
COVID-19 Vaccines
COVID-19* / prevention & control
Humans
SARS-CoV-2
Vaccination
Viral Vaccines*
mRNA Vaccines

A boost with SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine elicits strong humoral responses independently of the interval between the first two doses

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