Patterns of Antibody Response to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Among 1.6 Million Blood Donors: Impact of Vaccination, United States, December 2020-June 2021

J Infect Dis. 2022 Jan 5;225(1):5-9. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiab514.

Abstract

From December 2020 to June 2021, 1654487 blood donors were tested for antibodies to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) S1 protein, and 1028547 (62.17%) were reactive. A rapid increase in prevalence was due to vaccination. Among a subset of 1567446 donors, 729771 (46.56%) reported SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, of whom 633769 (86.84%) were S1-antibody reactive only in response to vaccination and 68269 (9.35%) were reactive to both S1 and nucleocapsid in response to prior infection; the remainder were not reactive to either antibody. Among the 837675 (53.44%) donors who did not report vaccination, 210022 (25.07%) had reactivity to both antibodies and 29446 (3.52%) to S1 only.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; antibodies; blood donors; demographics; prevalence; vaccine.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Antibodies, Neutralizing / blood*
  • Antibodies, Viral / blood*
  • Antibody Formation*
  • Blood Donors*
  • COVID-19 / epidemiology
  • COVID-19 / prevention & control*
  • COVID-19 Testing
  • COVID-19 Vaccines / administration & dosage*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • SARS-CoV-2 / immunology
  • SARS-CoV-2 / isolation & purification*
  • Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
  • United States / epidemiology
  • Vaccination
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Antibodies, Neutralizing
  • Antibodies, Viral
  • COVID-19 Vaccines
  • Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus