Immune and behavioral correlates of protection against symptomatic post-vaccination SARS-CoV-2 infection

Emilie Goguet; Cara H Olsen; William A Meyer 3rd; Sara Ansari; John H Powers 3rd; Tonia L Conner; Si'Ana A Coggins; Wei Wang; Richard Wang; Luca Illinik; Margaret Sanchez Edwards; Belinda M Jackson-Thompson; Monique Hollis-Perry; Gregory Wang; Yolanda Alcorta; Mimi A Wong; David Saunders; Roshila Mohammed; Bolatito Balogun; Priscilla Kobi; Lakeesha Kosh; Kimberly Bishop-Lilly; Regina Z Cer; Catherine E Arnold; Logan J Voegtly; Maren Fitzpatrick; Andrea E Luquette; Francisco Malagon; Orlando Ortega; Edward Parmelee; Julian Davies; Alyssa R Lindrose; Hannah Haines-Hull; Matthew S Moser; Emily C Samuels; Marana S Rekedal; Elizabeth K Graydon; Allison M W Malloy; David R Tribble; Timothy H Burgess; Wesley Campbell; Sara Robinson; Christopher C Broder; Robert J O'Connell; Carol D Weiss; Simon Pollett; Eric D Laing; Edward Mitre

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2024.1287504

Immune and behavioral correlates of protection against symptomatic post-vaccination SARS-CoV-2 infection

Front Immunol. 2024 Mar 19:15:1287504. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1287504. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Emilie Goguet^{1

2}, Cara H Olsen³, William A Meyer 3rd⁴, Sara Ansari⁴, John H Powers 3rd⁵, Tonia L Conner¹, Si'Ana A Coggins^{1

2}, Wei Wang⁶, Richard Wang⁶, Luca Illinik^{2

7}, Margaret Sanchez Edwards^{2

7}, Belinda M Jackson-Thompson^{1

2}, Monique Hollis-Perry⁸, Gregory Wang^{8

9}, Yolanda Alcorta^{8

9}, Mimi A Wong^{8

9}, David Saunders¹⁰, Roshila Mohammed^{2

7}, Bolatito Balogun^{2

7}, Priscilla Kobi^{2

7}, Lakeesha Kosh^{2

7}, Kimberly Bishop-Lilly¹¹, Regina Z Cer¹¹, Catherine E Arnold^{11

12}, Logan J Voegtly^{11

13}, Maren Fitzpatrick^{11

13}, Andrea E Luquette^{11

13}, Francisco Malagon^{11

13}, Orlando Ortega^{2

7}, Edward Parmelee^{2

7}, Julian Davies^{2

7}, Alyssa R Lindrose^{1

2}, Hannah Haines-Hull^{1

2}, Matthew S Moser^{1

2}, Emily C Samuels^{1

2}, Marana S Rekedal^{1

2}, Elizabeth K Graydon^{1

2}, Allison M W Malloy¹⁴, David R Tribble⁷, Timothy H Burgess⁷, Wesley Campbell¹⁵, Sara Robinson¹⁵, Christopher C Broder¹, Robert J O'Connell⁷, Carol D Weiss⁶, Simon Pollett^{2

7}, Eric D Laing¹, Edward Mitre¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, United States.
² The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc., Bethesda, MD, United States.
³ Department of Preventive Medicine & Biostatistics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, United States.
⁴ Quest Diagnostics, Secaucus, NJ, United States.
⁵ Clinical Research Directorate, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, United States.
⁶ Division of Viral Products, Office of Vaccine Research and Review, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, United States.
⁷ Infectious Disease Clinical Research Program, Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, United States.
⁸ Clinical Trials Center, Infectious Diseases Directorate, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, MD, United States.
⁹ General Dynamics Information Technology, Falls Church, VA, United States.
¹⁰ Translational Medicine Unit, Department of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, United States.
¹¹ Biological Defense Research Directorate, Naval Medical Research Command, Fort Detrick, MD, United States.
¹² Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Fort Belvoir, VA, United States.
¹³ Leidos, Reston, VA, United States.
¹⁴ Department of Pediatrics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, United States.
¹⁵ Division of Infectious Diseases, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, United States.

Abstract

Introduction: We sought to determine pre-infection correlates of protection against SARS-CoV-2 post-vaccine inzfections (PVI) acquired during the first Omicron wave in the United States.

Methods: Serum and saliva samples from 176 vaccinated adults were collected from October to December of 2021, immediately before the Omicron wave, and assessed for SARS-CoV-2 Spike-specific IgG and IgA binding antibodies (bAb). Sera were also assessed for bAb using commercial assays, and for neutralization activity against several SARS-CoV-2 variants. PVI duration and severity, as well as risk and precautionary behaviors, were assessed by questionnaires.

Results: Serum anti-Spike IgG levels assessed by research assay, neutralization titers against Omicron subvariants, and low home risk scores correlated with protection against PVIs after multivariable regression analysis. Commercial assays did not perform as well as research assay, likely due to their lower dynamic range.

Discussion: In the 32 participants that developed PVI, anti-Spike IgG bAbs correlated with lower disease severity and shorter duration of illness.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; correlates of immunity; respiratory infection; vaccination.

Copyright © 2024 Goguet, Olsen, Meyer, Ansari, Powers, Conner, Coggins, Wang, Wang, Illinik, Sanchez Edwards, Jackson-Thompson, Hollis-Perry, Wang, Alcorta, Wong, Saunders, Mohammed, Balogun, Kobi, Kosh, Bishop-Lilly, Cer, Arnold, Voegtly, Fitzpatrick, Luquette, Malagon, Ortega, Parmelee, Davies, Lindrose, Haines-Hull, Moser, Samuels, Rekedal, Graydon, Malloy, Tribble, Burgess, Campbell, Robinson, Broder, O’Connell, Weiss, Pollett, Laing and Mitre.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Antibodies, Viral
COVID-19 Vaccines
COVID-19* / prevention & control
Humans
Immunoglobulin G
SARS-CoV-2

Substances

COVID-19 Vaccines
Antibodies, Viral
Immunoglobulin G

Supplementary concepts

SARS-CoV-2 variants

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The protocol was executed by the Infectious Disease Clinical Research Program (IDCRP), a Department of Defense (DoD) program executed by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) through a cooperative agreement by the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. (HJF). This work was supported in whole, or in part, with federal funds from the Defense Health Program (HU00012020067, HU00012120094) and the Immunization Healthcare Branch (HU00012120104) of the Defense Health Agency, United States Department of Defense, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (HU00011920111), under Inter-Agency Agreement Y1-AI-5072, by the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Division (AFHSD), Global Emerging Infections Surveillance (GEIS) Branch, under award ProMIS ID P0099_22_NM and Navy WUN A1417, and by the US Food and Drug Administration Medical Countermeasures Initiative grant # OCET, 2022-1750. The sponsors had no involvement in the study design, the collection of data, the analysis of data, the interpretation of data, the writing of the report, or in the decision to submit the article for publication.