Immune response (IgG) following full inoculation with BNT162b2 COVID‑19 mRNA among healthcare professionals

Tsatsakis,Aristidis; Vakonaki,Elena; Tzatzarakis,Manolis; Flamourakis,Matthaios; Nikolouzakis,Taxiarchis Konstantinos; Poulas,Konstantinos; Papazoglou,Georgios; Hatzidaki,Eleftheria; Papanikolaou,Nikolas C.; Drakoulis,Nikolaos; Iliaki,Evangelia; Goulielmos,Georgios N.; Kallionakis,Manolis; Lazopoulos,Georgios; Kteniadakis,Stelios; Alegkakis,Athanasios; Farsalinos,Konstantinos; Spandidos,Demetrios A.

doi:10.3892/ijmm.2021.5033

Immune response (IgG) following full inoculation with BNT162b2 COVID‑19 mRNA among healthcare professionals

Authors:
- Aristidis Tsatsakis
- Elena Vakonaki
- Manolis Tzatzarakis
- Matthaios Flamourakis
- Taxiarchis Konstantinos Nikolouzakis
- Konstantinos Poulas
- Georgios Papazoglou
- Eleftheria Hatzidaki
- Nikolas C. Papanikolaou
- Nikolaos Drakoulis
- Evangelia Iliaki
- Georgios N. Goulielmos
- Manolis Kallionakis
- Georgios Lazopoulos
- Stelios Kteniadakis
- Athanasios Alegkakis
- Konstantinos Farsalinos
- Demetrios A. Spandidos
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Affiliations: Laboratory of Toxicology, Medical School, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Greece, Department of General Surgery, Venizeleion General Hospital, 71409 Heraklion, Greece, Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Immunology, Department of Pharmacy, University of Patras, 26500 Rio‑Patras, Greece, Department of Emergency Medicine, Venizeleion General Hospital, 71409 Heraklion, Greece, Department of Neonatology and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, University Hospital of Heraklion, 71500 Heraklion, Greece, Department of Internal Medicine, Venizeleion General Hospital, 71409 Heraklion, Greece, Research Group of Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics, Faculty of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15772 Athens, Greece, Section of Molecular Pathology and Human Genetics, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Greece, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University Hospital of Heraklion, 71500 Heraklion, Greece, Emergency Department, Venizeleion General Hospital, 71409 Heraklion, Greece, Laboratory of Clinical Virology, Medical School, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Greece
Published online on: September 13, 2021 https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.2021.5033
Article Number: 200
Copyright: © Tsatsakis et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

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.

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