Pillar 1
Immunology & Vaccine Protection

This study investigates longer term COVID-19 antibody responses in people with HIV (PWH) who are on suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART) after receiving three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Wild-type-specific, Omicron BA.1-specific and Omicron BA.5-specific antibody responses were studied in 64 PWH and 117 individuals without HIV (controls) for six months after their third COVID-19 vaccine dose. Participants either remained COVID-19-naive or experienced their first infection during this time.

Key Findings

  • After the third vaccine dose, antibody responses against all tested virus types increased significantly compared to after the second dose. However, responses to Omicron BA.1 and BA.5 were lower than responses to the wild-type virus.
  • Serum antibody concentrations and neutralization declined at similar rates in both PWH and controls. Six months after the third dose, the ability to neutralize the Omicron BA.1 variant was undetectable in over 80% of PWH and more than 90% of controls.
  • Breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection significantly increased antibody concentration and neutralization when compared to vaccination alone in both groups. Despite this, neutralization of the BA.5 variant remained lower compared to BA.1.

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Antibody response durability following three-dose coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination in people with HIV receiving suppressive antiretroviral therapy. Hope R. Lapointe, Franic Mwimanzi, Peter K. Cheung, Yurou Sang, Fatima Yaseen, Sarah Speckmaier, Evan Barad, Nadia Moran-Garcia, Sneha Datwani, Maggie C. Duncan, Rebecca Kalikawe, Siobhan Ennis, Landon Young, Bruce Ganase, F. Harrison Omondi, Gisele Umviligihozo, Winnie Dong, Junine Toy, Paul Sereda, Laura Burns, Celia T. Costiniuk, Curtis Cooper, Aslam H. Anis, Victor Leung, Daniel Holmes, Mari L. DeMarco, Janet Simons, Malcom Hedgcock, Natalie Prystajecky, Christopher F. Lowe, Marc G. Romney, Rolando Barrios, Silvia Guillemi, Chanson J. Brumme, Julio S. G. Montaner, Mark Hull, Marianne Harris, Masahiro Niikura, Mark A. Brockman, Zabrina L. Brumme. AIDS. 2023.04.01.04010; https://journals.lww.com/aidsonline/Fulltext/2023/04010/Antibody_response_durability_following_three_dose.2.aspx