Long-Term Immunity against SARS-CoV-2 Wild-Type and Omicron XBB.1.5 in Indonesian Residents after Vaccination and Infection

TL;DR

This study examines long-term immunity against SARS-CoV-2 in Indonesian residents, showing that booster vaccines and prior infections help maintain protection, especially against the Omicron variant.

Contribution

The study provides insights into the durability of immunity against SARS-CoV-2 and Omicron XBB.1.5 following vaccination and infection in a real-world population.

Findings

Double booster doses significantly increased antibody titers and neutralization capacity against SARS-CoV-2 and Omicron XBB.1.5.

Individuals with breakthrough infections showed better neutralization capacity compared to uninfected individuals with the same number of boosters.

Long-term neutralization against the wild-type virus remained high across all groups, with a slight decrease against Omicron XBB.1.5.

Abstract

In the post-pandemic era, evaluating long-term immunity against COVID-19 has become increasingly critical, particularly in light of continuous SARS-CoV-2 mutations. This study aimed to assess the long-term humoral immune response in sera collected in Makassar. We measured anti-RBD IgG levels and neutralization capacity (NC) against both the Wild-Type (WT) Wuhan-Hu and Omicron XBB.1.5 variants across groups of COVID-19-vaccinated individuals with no booster (NB), single booster (SB), and double booster (DB). The mean durations since the last vaccination were 25.11 months, 19.24 months, and 16.9 months for the NB, SB, and DB group, respectively. Additionally, we evaluated the effect of breakthrough infection (BTI) history, with a mean duration since the last confirmed infection of 21.72 months. Our findings indicate fair long-term WT antibody (Ab) titers, with the DB group showing a significantly higher level than the other groups. Similarly, the DB group demonstrated the highest anti-Omicron XBB.1.5 Ab titer, yet it was insignificantly different from the other groups. Although the level of anti-WT Ab titers was moderate, we observed near-complete (96–97%) long-term neutralization against the WT pseudo-virus for all groups. There was a slight decrease in NC against Omicron XBB.1.5 compared to the WT among all groups, as DB group, SB group, and NB group showed 80.71 ± 3.9%, 74.29 ± 6.7%, and 67.2 ± 6.3% neutralization activity, respectively. A breakdown analysis based on infection and vaccine status showed that booster doses increase the NC against XBB.1.5, particularly in individuals without BTI. Individuals with BTI demonstrate a better NC compared to their counterpart uninfected individuals with the same number of booster doses. Our findings suggest that long-term immunity against SARS-CoV-2 persists and is effective against the mutant variant. Booster doses enhance the NC, especially among uninfected individuals.

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