Impact of COVID-19 Vaccination on Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 among the Health Care Workers in a Tertiary Care Centre, South India

Abstract

Global vaccine development efforts have been accelerated in response to the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. The study aims to determine the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies among vaccine-naïve healthcare workers and to describe the impact of vaccination roll-out on COVID-19 antibody prevalence among the health care centers in tertiary care centers in South India. Serum samples collected from vaccinated and unvaccinated health care workers between January 2021 and April 2021were subjected to COVID-19 IgG ELISA, and adverse effects after the first and second dose of receiving the Covishield vaccine were recorded. The vaccinated group was followed for a COVID-19 breakthrough infection for a period of 6 months. Among the recruited HCW, 156 and 157 participants were from the vaccinated and unvaccinated group, respectively. The seroprevalence (COVID-19 IgG ELISA) among the vaccinated and unvaccinated Health Care Workers (HCW) was 91.7% and 38.2%, respectively, which is statistically significant. Systemic and local side-effects after Covishield vaccination occur at lower frequencies than reported in phase 3 trials. Since the COVID-19 vaccine rollout has commenced in our tertiary care hospital, seropositivity for COVID-19 IgG has risen dramatically and clearly shows trends in vaccine-induced antibodies among the health care workers.

Unveiling the Dynamics of the Omicron Variant: Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Vaccination Efficacy during the Third Wave of Covid-19 in Indonesia's Gowa Regency

“…This study showed a significant difference between the antibody status of respondents who had been fully vaccinated (at least two doses) and those who had not. This study's results align with studies showing that COVID-19 vaccination stimulates the immune system to produce neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 [25][26][27]. The COVID-19 vaccine is considered effective in forming an immune response against the SARS-CoV-2 virus because most COVID-19 vaccines are designed to elicit an immune response that neutralizes antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2spike protein [21,28,29].…”

Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike IgG antibody among COVID-19 vaccinated individuals residing in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia

“…In several African countries, the seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was found in different areas, such as 73.8% in Nigeria and 81.1% in Kenya ( Awandu et al, 2022 ; Onifade et al, 2023 ). In other countries, such as India, Chile, French, and Slovakia, the seroprevalence was reported to be more than 90% ( Ben Houmich et al, 2022 ; Kajanova et al, 2022 ; Decarreaux et al, 2022 ; Aguilera et al, 2022 ; Elangovan et al, 2022 ). Consistent with those findings, 91.7% of participants in this study exhibited anti-S-IgG antibody seropositivity.…”

“…Continuous surveillance of vaccine effectiveness and the probability of waning immunity should be considered ( Björk et al, 2022 ). In several African countries, the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 anti-S antibodies in general population was lower than 90% ( Awandu et al, 2022 ; Onifade et al, 2023 ), while in several Asian, European, and South American countries, the seroprevalence was reported to be more than 90% ( Kajanova et al, 2022 ; Decarreaux et al, 2022 ; Aguilera et al, 2022 ; Elangovan et al, 2022 ). In Indonesia, several studies have highlighted the impact of COVID-19 vaccination on the elicitation of antibody responses.…”

Serosurveillance of COVID-19 amongst health care workers in a teaching institution – A prospective cohort study in Puducherry district

“…[ 15 16 ] Elangovan D et al . [ 17 ] observed that the seroprevalence (COVID-19 IgG ELISA) amongst the vaccinated and unvaccinated HCWs was 91.7 and 38.2%, respectively. In the study by Sharma P et al ,[ 18 ] 51.3% (95% C.I: 47.4–55.3) HCWs were detected with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies on baseline examination.…”