Waning of SARS-CoV-2 booster viral-load reduction effectiveness
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Abstract
The BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine has been shown to reduce viral load of breakthrough infections (BTIs), an important factor affecting infectiousness. This viral-load protective effect has been waning with time post the second vaccine and later restored with a booster shot. It is currently unclear though for how long this regained effectiveness lasts. Analyzing Ct values of SARS-CoV-2 qRT-PCR tests of over 22,000 infections during a Delta-variant-dominant period in Israel, we find that this viral-load reduction effectiveness significantly declines within months post the booster dose. Adjusting for age, sex and calendric date, Ct values of RdRp gene initially increases by 2.7 [CI: 2.3-3.0] relative to unvaccinated in the first month post the booster dose, yet then decays to a difference of 1.3 [CI: 0.7-1.9] in the second month and becomes small and insignificant in the third to fourth months. The rate and magnitude of this post-booster decline in viral-load reduction effectiveness mirror those observed post the second vaccine. These results suggest rapid waning of the booster’s effectiveness in reducing infectiousness, possibly affecting community-level spread of the virus.
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The waning of vaccine effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 infection is consistent with previous observations of the second and third doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine.
“The waning of vaccine effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 infection is consistent with previous observations of the second and third doses of the BNT162b2b vaccine.10 11”
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- Authors
- Levine-Tiefenbrun, M., Yelin, I., Alapi, H., Herzel, E., Kuint, J., Chodick, G., Gazit, S., Patalon, T., & Kishony, R.
- Affiliations
- Tel Aviv University (IL)
- Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (IL)
- Maccabi Healthcare Services (IL)
- Corresponding author
- Patalon, Tal
- Kishony, Roy
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2022-03-04
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1237-1237
- ISSN
- 2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8897467
- OpenAlex
- W4220922192
- Cited by
- 63
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 31
- FWCI
- 7.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- medRxiv (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Israel Science Foundation (3633/19)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Modeling and Simulation › COVID-19 epidemiological studies
- Social Sciences › Health › Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy
- Keywords
- SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 vaccines, BNT162b2, booster vaccination, viral load, breakthrough infection, waning vaccine effectiveness, infectiousness, cycle threshold, Delta variant, RdRp gene
- MeSH terms
- Immunogenicity, Vaccine, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 Vaccines, BNT162 Vaccine, Adult, Algorithms, Female, Humans, Immunization, Secondary, Male, Middle Aged, Time Factors, Vaccination, Linear Models, Treatment Outcome, Viral Load
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