Do post-COVID-19 patients need a second dose of vaccine?

Taubel, J.; Spencer, C. S.; Freier, A.; Camilleri, D.; Garitaonandia, I.; Lorch, U.

Vaccination forms a key part of public health strategies to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2 globally. In the UK, two vaccines (BNT162b2-mRNA produced by Pfizer, and ChAdOx-1-S produced by Oxford-AstraZeneca) have been licensed to date, and their administration is prioritised according to individual risk. This study forms part of a longitudinal assessment of participants' SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody levels before and after vaccination. Our results confirm that there is little quantitative difference in the antibody titres achieved by the two vaccines. Our results also suggest that individuals who have previously been infected with SARS-CoV-2 achieve markedly higher antibody titres than those who are immunologically naive. This finding is useful to inform vaccine prioritisation strategies in the future: individuals with no history of SARS-CoV-2 infection should be prioritised for a second vaccine inoculation.