Leo Poon and Malik Peiris recently conducted a study on antibody response to the two Covid-19 vaccines available to the general public in Hong Kong: the inactivated vaccine CoronaVac and the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine ‘‘Comirnaty”, developed by BioNTech/Fosun Pharma.
The aim of this research is to study the strength and durability of antibody responses to vaccination for up to six months after the second dose. As of early February 2022 (when this research was conducted), 11.7 million doses had been administered in Hong Kong, of which 4.5 million were CoronaVac and 7.2 million were BNT162b.
Abstract:
We studied 2780 adults in Hong Kong who received CoronaVac inactivated virus vaccine (Sinovac) and BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine (‘‘Comirnaty”, BioNTech/Fosun Pharma). We compared rates of antibody waning over time using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for spike receptor binding domain and a surrogate virus neutralization test. We found stronger and more durable antibody responses to two doses of the mRNA vaccine, and slightly stronger initial antibody responses to each vaccine in younger adults and women. The weaker and less durable responses following CoronaVac support earlier provision of third doses to persons who previously received two doses of this vaccine.