Transplant: No or Few Antibodies after COVID Vaccination

Posted by nkdonahue @nkdonahue, Feb 27, 2021

My daughter received a kidney from her father 15 months ago. She is participating in the Johns Hopkins study of transplant patients undergoing vaccination. The study required that she be tested for antibodies just before she received her second shot. The test results showed that she had no antibodies to Covid-19. I wonder if anyone else on this list is participating in the Hopkins study and can share their experience. I know the study will be asking participants to repeat the antibody test four of five more times over the year after being fully vaccinated. Thank you

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@barbtc

Yep! Kidney/Pancreas transplant. They did the tests to see that we might need the third vaccine, but are they studying anything after that?

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Hello @barbtc. There is an ongoing study that John Hopkins is conducting on transplant recipient development of antibodies following Covid vaccinations. Results from study participants receiving the third shot showed some development, but it widely varies depending on several variables. Here’s a link to the study:
https://transplantvaccine.org/

The most recent results were presented in the July 8 webinar, which is posted- https://transplantvaccine.org/study-results-and-webinars/

John Hopkins is also studying other potential ways the vaccine may help us build immunity, including B cells snd memory cells.

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@athenalee

Hello @barbtc. There is an ongoing study that John Hopkins is conducting on transplant recipient development of antibodies following Covid vaccinations. Results from study participants receiving the third shot showed some development, but it widely varies depending on several variables. Here’s a link to the study:
https://transplantvaccine.org/

The most recent results were presented in the July 8 webinar, which is posted- https://transplantvaccine.org/study-results-and-webinars/

John Hopkins is also studying other potential ways the vaccine may help us build immunity, including B cells snd memory cells.

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I got my results from John Hopkins blood 🩸 work today. I had my 3rd shot a week ago. My first two shots I got zero antibodies. Then retested at 3 months I had 48 and then one month later I had 40. The goal was to get to 2,500. I was not expecting today’s results. I got greater then 2,500. That’s doesn’t mean I’m protected. Still going to continue doing what I’m doing while they continue to study this. But it’s nice to get some good news. I’m hoping correct strength of meds a key to way of getting greater protection. Wish everyone else same success on boosters.

This message came with results. Antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding
domain (RBD) were detected. It is yet undetermined what level of
antibody to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein correlates to immunity against
developing symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 disease. Studies are underway to
measure the quantitative levels of specific SARS-CoV-2 antibodies
following vaccination. Such studies will provide valuable insights
into the correlation between protection from vaccination and
antibody levels.
Positive
Roche Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S

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@zon

I got my results from John Hopkins blood 🩸 work today. I had my 3rd shot a week ago. My first two shots I got zero antibodies. Then retested at 3 months I had 48 and then one month later I had 40. The goal was to get to 2,500. I was not expecting today’s results. I got greater then 2,500. That’s doesn’t mean I’m protected. Still going to continue doing what I’m doing while they continue to study this. But it’s nice to get some good news. I’m hoping correct strength of meds a key to way of getting greater protection. Wish everyone else same success on boosters.

This message came with results. Antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding
domain (RBD) were detected. It is yet undetermined what level of
antibody to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein correlates to immunity against
developing symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 disease. Studies are underway to
measure the quantitative levels of specific SARS-CoV-2 antibodies
following vaccination. Such studies will provide valuable insights
into the correlation between protection from vaccination and
antibody levels.
Positive
Roche Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S

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Wow. That’s encouraging news anyway! Thanks for sharing!

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@athenalee

Wow. That’s encouraging news anyway! Thanks for sharing!

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I would like to add that I’m on Mycophenolate and tac. Coming up on 4 years since transplant date. My wife has been on Facebook page with other John Hopkins people in study. She said the amount of people getting big boost from third shot has been very encouraging.

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@zon

I would like to add that I’m on Mycophenolate and tac. Coming up on 4 years since transplant date. My wife has been on Facebook page with other John Hopkins people in study. She said the amount of people getting big boost from third shot has been very encouraging.

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I’m 2 years out from my 2nd kidney transplant. Also on Mycophenolate and Tacrolimus.. I was negative for antibodies after 2 doses of Moderna. I got my 3rd dose in August. I haven’t been tested yet for antibodies, but your results are definitely encouraging. Thanks for the info!

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@zon

I got my results from John Hopkins blood 🩸 work today. I had my 3rd shot a week ago. My first two shots I got zero antibodies. Then retested at 3 months I had 48 and then one month later I had 40. The goal was to get to 2,500. I was not expecting today’s results. I got greater then 2,500. That’s doesn’t mean I’m protected. Still going to continue doing what I’m doing while they continue to study this. But it’s nice to get some good news. I’m hoping correct strength of meds a key to way of getting greater protection. Wish everyone else same success on boosters.

This message came with results. Antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding
domain (RBD) were detected. It is yet undetermined what level of
antibody to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein correlates to immunity against
developing symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 disease. Studies are underway to
measure the quantitative levels of specific SARS-CoV-2 antibodies
following vaccination. Such studies will provide valuable insights
into the correlation between protection from vaccination and
antibody levels.
Positive
Roche Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S

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Congratulations @zon on your third dose booster antibodies!! That's fantastic news. Are you a kidney transplant patient? May I ask what your current dosage of MMF and Tac are daily? Also, did you receive Moderna or Pfizer? I have been testing for antibodies using the Labcorp lab.
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful success. My third dose came back zero again. I am a kidney transplant patient. I take 1000mg MMF (Cellcept) daily (500 bid) and 6mg Envarsus XR (Tac) each day. I had three doses of Moderna.

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@hello1234

Congratulations @zon on your third dose booster antibodies!! That's fantastic news. Are you a kidney transplant patient? May I ask what your current dosage of MMF and Tac are daily? Also, did you receive Moderna or Pfizer? I have been testing for antibodies using the Labcorp lab.
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful success. My third dose came back zero again. I am a kidney transplant patient. I take 1000mg MMF (Cellcept) daily (500 bid) and 6mg Envarsus XR (Tac) each day. I had three doses of Moderna.

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Thanks for sharing info. I'm a kidney transplant. 1500 mg MMF daily. Moderna (3) with booster about two weeks ago Wednesday. Antibody test administered in July 21 indicated some level of antibodies but no measurement. This is useful information.

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@zon

I got my results from John Hopkins blood 🩸 work today. I had my 3rd shot a week ago. My first two shots I got zero antibodies. Then retested at 3 months I had 48 and then one month later I had 40. The goal was to get to 2,500. I was not expecting today’s results. I got greater then 2,500. That’s doesn’t mean I’m protected. Still going to continue doing what I’m doing while they continue to study this. But it’s nice to get some good news. I’m hoping correct strength of meds a key to way of getting greater protection. Wish everyone else same success on boosters.

This message came with results. Antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding
domain (RBD) were detected. It is yet undetermined what level of
antibody to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein correlates to immunity against
developing symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 disease. Studies are underway to
measure the quantitative levels of specific SARS-CoV-2 antibodies
following vaccination. Such studies will provide valuable insights
into the correlation between protection from vaccination and
antibody levels.
Positive
Roche Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S

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Very useful information. Thanks for sharing.

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@hello1234

Congratulations @zon on your third dose booster antibodies!! That's fantastic news. Are you a kidney transplant patient? May I ask what your current dosage of MMF and Tac are daily? Also, did you receive Moderna or Pfizer? I have been testing for antibodies using the Labcorp lab.
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful success. My third dose came back zero again. I am a kidney transplant patient. I take 1000mg MMF (Cellcept) daily (500 bid) and 6mg Envarsus XR (Tac) each day. I had three doses of Moderna.

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I had a kidney transplant coming up on 4 year mark. I take 1250mg Mycophenolateand 2.5mg Tacrolimus. I test zero my first two shots. Then at 3 months I had 48 and two weeks later on day of the third shot I had 40. One week after the booster I hit 2500. I was shocked. I took Pfizer on all three shots.

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@zon

I had a kidney transplant coming up on 4 year mark. I take 1250mg Mycophenolateand 2.5mg Tacrolimus. I test zero my first two shots. Then at 3 months I had 48 and two weeks later on day of the third shot I had 40. One week after the booster I hit 2500. I was shocked. I took Pfizer on all three shots.

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@zon is the JH study also testing your T and B cells? If so, what kind of results have you seen? Does there appear to be a correlation between your antibodies results and the T and B cells? I am pretty sure that our immune suppression drugs specifically target the T and B cells to avoid rejection, but I am not positive about that. I think I saw on the JH study description that JH was going to test those cells in addition to the antibodies? Thank you again for sharing your experience!! This really helps me to understand my own results and gives me hope for the future!

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