Vaccination of COVID-19 convalescent plasma donors increases binding and neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 variants.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) was widely used as passive immunotherapy during the first waves of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the US. However, based on observational studies and randomized controlled trials, the beneficial effects of CCP were limited, and its use was virtually discontinued early in 2021, in concurrence with increased vaccination rates and availability of monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapeutics. Yet, as new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 spread, interest in CCP derived from vaccine-boosted CCP donors is resurging. The effect of vaccination of previously infected CCP donors on antibodies against rapidly spreading variants is still under investigation. STUDY DESIGN/METHODS: In this study, paired-samples from 11 CCP donors collected before and after vaccination was tested to measure binding antibody levels and neutralization activity against the ancestral Wuhan-Hu-1 and SARS-CoV-2 variants (Wuhan-Hu-1 with D614G, alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon) on the Ortho Vitros Spike Total Ig and IgG assays, the MSD V-PLEX SARS-CoV-2 arrays for IgG binding and ACE2 inhibition, and variant-specific Spike Reporter Viral Particle Neutralization (RVPN) assays. RESULTS/FINDINGS: Binding and neutralizing antibodies were significantly boosted by vaccination, with several logs higher neutralization for all the variants tested post-vaccination compared to the pre-vaccination samples, with no difference found among the individual variants. DISCUSSION: Vaccination of previously infected individuals boosts antibodies including neutralizing activity against all SARS-CoV-2 variants.