Immune responses associated with protection from SARS-CoV-2 infection
Conflicting results have emerged regarding immune correlates of protection against SARS-CoV-2. In this secondary analysis of a trial of immediate versus delayed bivalent mRNA booster vaccination, we studied a range of humoral and cellular immune responses 28 days after vaccination and analyzed their association with subsequent symptomatic and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection. We found neutralizing antibodies and other plasma antibody titers correlated with prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection. In a multivariate model, only neutralizing antibodies remained associated with protection from infection (p = 0.021). There was no significant correlation observed between B and T cell responses to Spike and protection. Our findings add to evidence of antibody correlates of prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Trial registration: ANZCTR 12622000411741.
Authors
- Mai-Chi Trieu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9181-5843)
- Miles P. Davenport (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4751-1831)
- Arnold Reynaldi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5529-5542)
- David S. Khoury (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2663-1551)
- Kevin J. Selva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0780-9422)
- Stephen John Kent (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8539-4891)
- Jennifer Audsley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6322-3197)
- Hyon‐Xhi Tan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1064-3934)
- Wen Shi Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7285-4054)
- Amy W. Chung (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0020-9704)
- Deborah Cromer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5276-5094)
- Jennifer A. Juno
- Adam K. Wheatley
Institutions
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Haukeland University Hospital (NO)
- UNSW Sydney (AU)
- Peter Doherty Institute (AU)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Vaccine
- Published
- 2026-04-13
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2026.128579
- Primary Topic
- SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Health and Medical Research Council
- Medical Research Future Fund