Prevention of infection and optimizing vaccination in the solid organ transplant candidate and recipient

Early humoral immune response to two doses of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 vaccine in a diverse group of solid organ transplant candidates and recipients

Response to two doses of a nucleoside-modified messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine was evaluated in a large solid-organ transplant program. mRNA COVID-19 vaccine was administered to transplant candidates and recipients who met study inclusion criteria. Qualitative anti-SARS-CoV-2 Spike Total Immunoglobulin (Ig) and IgG-specific assays, and a semi-quantitative test for anti-SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein IgG were measured in 241 (17.2%) transplant candidates and 1,163 (82.8%) transplant recipients; 55.2% of whom were non-Hispanic White and 44.8% identified as another race. Transplant recipients were a median (IQR) of 3.2 (1.1, 6.8) years from transplantation. Response differed by transplant status: 96.0% vs 43.2% by the anti-SARS-CoV-2 Total Ig (candidates vs recipients, respectively), 93.5% vs 11.6% by the anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay, and 91.9% vs 30.1% by anti-spike titers after two doses of vaccine. Multivariable analysis revealed candidates had higher likelihood of response vs recipients (odds ratio [OR], 14.6; 95 %CI 2.19, 98.11; p = 0.02). A slightly lower response was demonstrated in older patients (OR 0.96; 95 %CI 0.94, 0.99; p = 0.002), patients taking antimetabolites (OR, 0.21; 95% CI 0.08, 0.51; p = 0.001). Vaccination prior to transplantation should be encouraged. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.