Thread by @michaelzlin

This study flew under the radar (only 1 news article): Omicron antibodies in participants of the NIH mix and match trial

Results: 3xRNA ~ 2xRNA+JJ ≥ JJ+RNA >> JJ+JJ

JJ+JJ ends up 10x worse than 3xRNA

medrxiv.org/content/10.110… @PaulSaxMD

Also confirms JJ is a poor booster for JJ, for either "original" D614G or Omicron.

Above, the JJ+Pfizer looked about 2x worse than 3xPfizer. Confidence intervals are wide, but another underreported Omicron study found JJ+Pfizer was ~3x worse than Mod+Mod+Pfizer. So this effect size seems consistent.

Great graphics BTW

medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

The difference between JJ+RNA and 3xRNA was bigger in the @BalazsLab study. I believe those patient samples may have been more heterogeneous. Regardless JJ+RNA is consistently lower than 3xRNA.

cell.com/cell/fulltext/…

Returning to the second paper by the de Vries lab, they also looked at B and T cell responses to original spike, over time after "full vax" (1xJJ or 2xAZ or 2xRNA)

No surprises: we see again that the 2-dose vaccines have higher Ab levels at 1mo than at 6mo.

Peak Mod>Pfiz>AZ>JJ

For those who might have just read press releases or news articles that reiterate press releases, yes JJ (Ad26COV2S) Ab levels go up and then stabilize between 2mo and 6mo. But the whole time it is below the levels of 2xRNA (mRNA or BNT), so there's no net advantage of 1xJJ.

How about T cells, which some people thought would be an advantage of adenovirus (Ad, vectored) vaccines? As measured by IFNgamma release, they're worse for 2xAZ (ChAdOx) or 1xJJ (Ad26COV2s) vs 2xRNA (mRNA1273).

White circles = selected for in-depth analysis

They also looked at unboosted Ab levels against Omicron. This is a measure of breadth of the response. You can see convalescent sera and Moderna had the most Omicron neutralization (look at #'s above), everything else similarly poor.

And they also looked at T cell responses across strains. Again Moderna much better than everything else. Little differences across strains (because T cell epitopes are from anywhere in the protein, and not subject to the same selective pressure)

So the de Vries study is remarkably consistent in showing Moderna to have the broadest B cell responses, and the strongest B and T cell responses. It does seem like the most protective of the vaccines, and Modernites also get to enjoy a 3rd shot of their choice (4 if they are IC)

And finally the de Vries study, like the Balazs study, is a joy to read because of the excellent graphics. Everything is consistently labelled, well organized, and color-coded, and there's a cartoon of the experimental process. You hardly ever have to look at the legend. 🙏👏👏