Long‐term immunogenicity and safety of heterologous boosting with a SARS‐CoV‐2 mRNA vaccine (SYS6006) in Chinese participants who had received two or three doses of inactivated vaccine

Abstract The emerging new variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) needs booster vaccination. We evaluated the long‐term safety and immunogenicity of heterologous boosting with a SARS‐CoV‐2 messenger RNA vaccine SYS6006. A total of 1000 participants aged 18 years or more who had received two (Group A) or three (Group B) doses of SARS‐CoV‐2 inactivated vaccine were enrolled and vaccinated with one dose of SYS6006 which was designed based on the prototype spike protein and introduced mutation sites. Adverse events (AEs) through 30 days and serious AEs during the study were collected. Live‐virus and pseudovirus neutralizing antibody (Nab), binding antibody (immunoglobulin G [IgG]) and cellular immunity were tested through 180 days. Solicited all, injection‐site and systemic AEs were reported by 618 (61.8%), 498 (49.8%), and 386 (38.6%) participants, respectively. Most AEs were grade 1. The two groups had similar safety profile. No vaccination‐related SAEs were reported. Robust wild‐type (WT) live‐virus Nab response was elicited with peak geometric mean titers (GMTs) of 3769.5 (Group A) and 5994.7 (Group B) on day 14, corresponding to 1602.5‐ and 290.8‐fold increase versus baseline, respectively. The BA.5 live‐virus Nab GMTs were 87.7 (Group A) and 93.2 (Group B) on day 14. All participants seroconverted for WT live‐virus Nab. Robust pseudovirus Nab and IgG responses to wild type and BA.5 were also elicited. ELISpot assay showed robust cellular immune response, which was not obviously affected by virus variation. In conclusion, SYS6006 heterologous boosting demonstrated long‐term good safety and immunogenicity in participants who had received two or three doses of SARS‐CoV‐2 inactivated vaccine.