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Objectives To assess immunogenicity of a heterologous fourth dose of an mRNA (BNT162b2) severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine in autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARD) patients with poor/non-response to inactivated vaccine (Sinovac-CoronaVac). Methods A total of 164 ARD patients who were coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) poor/non-responders (negative anti-SARS-CoV-2 S1/S2 IgG and/or neutralizing antibodies—NAb) to the third dose of Sinovac-CoronaVac received an additional heterologous dose of mRNA (BNT162b2) 3 months after last dose. IgG and NAb were evaluated before and after the fourth dose. Results Significant increases were observed after the fourth dose in IgG (66.4 vs 95.1%, P Conclusions This is the largest study to provide evidence of a remarkable humoral response after the fourth dose of heterologous mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in ARD patients with poor/non-response to the third dose of an inactivated vaccine. We further identified that treatment, particularly rituximab and prednisone, impaired antibody response to this additional dose. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, https://clinicaltrials.gov, CoronavRheum #NCT04754698.

To assess immunogenicity of a heterologous 4th dose of a mRNA (BNT162b2) SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARD) patients with poor/non-response to inactivated vaccine (Sinovac-CoronaVac).164 ARD patients who were COVID-19 poor/non-responders (negative anti-SARS-CoV-2 S1/S2 IgG and/or neutralising antibodies-NAb) to the 3rd dose of Sinovac-CoronaVac received an additional heterologous dose of mRNA (BNT162b2) three months after last dose. IgG and NAb were evaluated before and after the 4th dose.Significant increases were observed after 4th dose in IgG (66.4% vs 95.1%, p0.001), NAb positivity (5.5% vs 83.5%, p0.001) and GMT (29.5 vs 215.8 AU/ml, p0.001), and 28 (17.1%) remained poor/non-responders. Patients with negative IgG after 4th dose were more frequently under rituximab (p= 0.001). Negative NAb was associated with older age (p= 0.015), rheumatoid arthritis (p= 0.002), systemic sclerosis (p= 0.026), leflunomide (p= 0.016), and rituximab use (p= 0.007). In multiple logistic regression analysis, prednisone dose ≥7.5 mg/day (OR = 0.34; p= 0.047), leflunomide (OR = 0.32, p= 0.036) and rituximab use (OR = 0.19, p= 0.022) were independently associated with negative NAb after the 4th vaccine dose.This is the largest study to provide evidence of a remarkable humoral response after the 4th dose of heterologous mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in ARD patients with poor/no-response to the 3rd dose of an inactivated vaccine. We further identified that treatment, particularly rituximab and prednisone, impaired antibody response to this additional dose.ClinicalTrials.gov, https://clinicaltrials.gov, CoronavRheum #NCT04754698.

The determination of durability and vaccine-associated protection is essential for booster doses strategies, however data on the stability of SARS-CoV-2 immunity are scarce. Here we assess anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunogenicity decay and incident cases six months after the 2nd dose of Sinovac-CoronaVac inactivated vaccine (D210) in 828 autoimmune rheumatic diseases patients compared with 207 age/sex-balanced control individuals. The primary outcome is the presence of anti-S1/S2 SARS-CoV-2 IgG at 6 months compared to 6 weeks after 2nd vaccine dose for decay evaluation. Secondary outcomes are presence of neutralizing antibodies, percent inhibition by neutralizing, geometric mean titers and cumulative incident cases at 6 months after 2nd dose. Anti-S1/S2 IgG positivity and titers reduce to 23.8% and 38% in patients (p p p p