Immunogenicity and Effectiveness of Primary and Booster Vaccine Combination Strategies during Periods of SARS-CoV-2 Delta and Omicron Variants

Abstract

In this study involving a cohort of employees of the National Airline company in Lebanon, we assessed humoral immunity levels and the effectiveness of two COVID-19 vaccines, Gam-COVID-Vac versus BNT162b2, after two doses and after a homologous and heterologous BNT162b2 booster, in addition to the impact of hybrid immunity. Vaccine effectiveness (VE) was retrospectively determined against laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection during the periods of Delta and Omicron variants’ predominance, separately, and was calculated based on a case–control study design. The humoral immune response, measured by a SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike receptor-binding domain (RBD) IgG titer, was prospectively assessed after the aforementioned vaccination schemes at different time points. This study showed higher effectiveness of BNT162b2 after two doses (81%) compared to two doses of Gam-COVID-Vac (41.8%) against the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, which correlated with anti-spike antibody levels. Regarding the Omicron variant, protection against infection and antibody levels were severely compromised and the correlation between an anti-spike IgG titer and effectiveness was lost, unlike the situation during the Delta wave. Considering the booster vaccination schemes, a homologous BNT162b2 booster after a BNT162b2 primary vaccination induced a higher humoral immune response when compared to that induced by a heterologous BNT162b2 booster after a Gam-COVID-Vac primary vaccination. However, the VE of both booster regimens against the Omicron variant was almost equal (64% in the homologous regimen and 57% in heterologous regimen). Hybrid immunity evidenced a better humoral response and a greater and longer protection against Delta and Omicron infections compared to vaccination-induced immunity in COVID-19-naïve individuals. Finally, the findings show that VE waned with time during the same wave, highlighting the importance of reinforcing primary and booster COVID-19 vaccination mainly at the beginning of each wave during the surge of a new variant of concern.