COVID‐19 after two doses of mRNA vaccines in kidney transplant recipients

Mehta, Rajil B.; Silveira, Fernanda P.

Mortality due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and the resulting coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among transplant recipients is high 1 . In December 2020 the BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) and the mRNA-1273 (Moderna) vaccines received emergency use authorization in the United States. These mRNA vaccines administered in a two-dose series were more than 94% effective in preventing COVID-19 in clinical trials, without safety concerns identified 2,3 . Transplant recipients were excluded from the clinical trials. Although decreased efficacy and immunogenicity were expected for transplant recipients, transplant recipients were included in the early vaccination prioritization groups and transplant societies, including the American Society of Transplantation, urged transplant recipients to get vaccinated as soon as vaccine was available.