Immune Response to Vaccination against COVID-19 at Different Second-Dose Intervals and Their Associations with Metabolic Parameters

Obesity and diabetes are associated with severe COVID-19 outcomes. Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 protect against infection and severe disease, but the immune response of metabolically burdened individuals remains unclear. We assessed whether metabolic status affects humoral responses to BNT162b2 vaccination and whether the interval between the first two doses influences antibody concentration. Sixty-seven adults (21 males, 46 females) received BNT162b2; 54 received the second dose after 3 weeks and 13 after 5 weeks. Anti-spike antibody titers were measured over 19 weeks; participants with COVID-19 during follow-up were excluded. The 5-week interval group showed significantly higher maximal antibody titers, but there were no differences between groups at 19 weeks. We observed no significant correlations between most cardiometabolic factors and humoral response. Extending the second-dose interval to 5 weeks increased the acute antibody response without altering longer-term titers. Dysregulated metabolic parameters did not diminish the humoral response to vaccination.

Łukasz Szczerbiński, Michał Andrzej Okruszko, Maciej Szabłowski, Jędrzej Warpechowski, Adam Paszko, Anna Citko, Paulina Konopka, Witold Bauer, Adam Jacek Krętowski