{"doi":"10.20944/preprints202310.0379.v1","title":"The Distinct Absence of a Post-boost Spike-IgG Antibody Surge in Ugandan Recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Has Implications for Vaccination Policies","abstract":"This study aimed to delineate the longitudinal antibody responses to the Pfizer- BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (BNT162b2) within the Ugandan subset of the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) demographic, filling a significant gap in global datasets. We enrolled 48 participants, collecting 320 specimens over 12 months after vaccination. A validated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to quantify SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG, IgM, and IgA concentrations (ng/ml) and optical densities (ODs). Statistical analyses included box plots, diverging bar graphs, and the Wilcoxon test with Bonferroni correction. We showed a robust SIgG response within 14 days of the primary vaccine dose, consistent with global data. Remarkably, we observed no significant surge in S-IgG levels following the booster, contrasting trends other global populations. The S-IgM response was transient, and predominantly established thresholds, reflecting its typical early emergence and subsequent decline. S-IgA increased initially but declined six months post-vaccination, in line with the temporal dynamics of mucosal immunity. Eleven breakthrough infections occurred; however, all were asymptomatic, indicating a protective effect from the vaccination regardless of the participants' initial S-IgG serostatus. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine elicited strong S-IgG responses in the SSA demographic. However, antibody dynamics distinctly differed from global data highlight the significance of region-specific research and the necessity for customized vaccination strategies.","journal":"Preprints.org","year":2023,"id":401149,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":1,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.8773,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2023-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1035950,"name":"Violet Ankunda","orcid":"0009-0007-2007-679X","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1097595,"name":"Joseph Ssebwana Katende","orcid":"0000-0002-6540-5522","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1065122,"name":"Jackson Sembera","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1036571,"name":"Gerald Kevin Oluka","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1064534,"name":"Claire Baine","orcid":"0009-0003-6442-2253","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1007338,"name":"Geoffrey Odoch","orcid":null,"position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1083221,"name":"Peter Ejou","orcid":null,"position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":786397,"name":"Laban Kato","orcid":null,"position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":36860,"name":"Pontiano Kaleebu","orcid":"0000-0001-9706-2977","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":811175,"name":"Jennifer Serwanga","orcid":"0000-0002-6672-3688","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":31,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T01:20:08.195423Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}