Antibody response against an inactive SARS-CoV-2 vaccine among healthcare workers occupied in different divisions

Aim:
The aim of the article was to examine the relationship between healthcare workers’ (HCW) antibody responses to the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and the division in which they are employed.

Material and methods:
Study data were obtained retrospectively from hospital medical records. 90.8% of participants (n = 177) who had received 2 doses of the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine but who had not had COVID-19 disease before and whose polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test positivity was not detected, without acquired or primary immunodeficiency and not using immunosuppressive drugs, and tested for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies between 7 and 14 days after the second dose of the vaccine, were included in our study. The control group consisted of 9.2% (n = 18) unvaccinated individuals with the same characteristics.

Results:
The study included 177 people who received 2 doses of the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and 18 people who had never been vaccinated, for a total of 195 HCWs. When the SARS-CoV-2 antibody test results of the participants were examined, it was found that 6.2% (n = 12) of the antibody level was negative, 24.1% (n = 47) was positive with a low antibody response between 1 and 10, and 69.7% (n = 136) was positive with a high antibody response. There was no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) observed in the antibody level results of HCWs who received the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Among HCWs who had received vaccinations, the rate of SARS-CoV-2 IgG negativity was 2/177 (1%) and the rate of seroconversion was 175/177 (99%).

Conclusions:
The SARS-CoV-2 IgG negativity rate was 1% and the seroconversion rate was 99% in vaccinated HCWs. There was no statistically significant difference in the SARS-CoV-2 antibody results according to the occupations of the HCWs.