Effects of a booster dose of BNT162b2 on spike-binding antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2, BA.3, BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants in infection-naïve and previously-infected individuals

It has been demonstrated that after two doses, SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine-induced neutralizing antibodies against Omicron subvariants are much lower than against wild type virus and a booster dose greatly increases Omicron neutralization. We compared Spike-binding IgG responses against wild type virus and four SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants in infection-naïve and previously-infected (hybrid immunity) individuals after the second and the third (booster) dose of BNT162b2. In both groups of individuals, antibodies for all four Omicron subvariants were lower than wild type antibodies. Compared to infection-naïve individuals, hybrid immunity resulted in higher antibodies levels after 2 doses of vaccine but not after the booster. In both groups, antibodies for wild type and all Omicron subvariants waned over an 8-month period post second dose but rebounded after the booster. These results underscore the importance of boosters to restore diminishing antibody levels for both infection-naïve and previously-infected individuals.