Got 1st dose 12/18. Blood donation 1/7. Negative antibodies. Got dose 2 on 1/8.

Somewhat disappointed.

One of the things I hoped to see in the Phase 3 reports from Moderna and Pfizer was a comparison of the antibody and T-cell responses of at least a sample of the participants. This would confirm the Phase 1 results
for one thing.

But you could also explore the differences in immunity responses between different subgroups.
In particular, how does the immunity response (t-cells and antibodies) compare between the infected cases in
the placebo group and the infected cases in the vaccine arm? For the infected cases in the vaccine arm, did their antibody and t-cell levels differ significantly from the uninfected vaccinated participants?

In addition it would be interesting to get a better grasp on the "decay rate" of the antibody levels. Perhaps some of this research was done and I missed it.

Some thoughts for the OP:

it can take 3 weeks or more to generate a good IgG response

The vaccine is two doses for a reason. I think most people will be protected a couple weeks after the first shot, but others need the booster.

5 minutes of googling tells me that it's hard to figure out what the exact antigen is in the Covid antibody test. If the antigen isn't the same as the viral protein in the vaccine, then you won't have antibodies against it.

That's what I'm thinking as well. The antibody test used in this case was maybe looking at something different than what the vaccine produces. Also, maybe their threshold for positive antibodies is set high given they are looking for donors.

There was definitely an immune response of some kind happening for a day after the second dose. I could barely get out of bed. That's a good sign. Not concerned at all about it not working.

As far as I know they're not studying antibody titers on anyone around here. Will probably go to quest next month and get a test.

lazuras_dc said:

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IIRC antibodies to vaccine spike protein is different than antibodies gained with natural infection. That's why, unfortunately, folks who are vaccinated can't donate useable plasma for sick folks.

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This is correct.

However, we are advocating for a variance in the rule to allow anyone who had COVID 19 and still gets vaccinated to be allowed to give convalescent plasma as they still have antibody responses to the infection and a lot of the ones we have lost since they got the vaccine were high titer donors..

plain_o_llama said:

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One of the things I hoped to see in the Phase 3 reports from Moderna and Pfizer was a comparison of the antibody and T-cell responses of at least a sample of the participants. This would confirm the Phase 1 results
for one thing.

But you could also explore the differences in immunity responses between different subgroups.
In particular, how does the immunity response (t-cells and antibodies) compare between the infected cases in
the placebo group and the infected cases in the vaccine arm? For the infected cases in the vaccine arm, did their antibody and t-cell levels differ significantly from the uninfected vaccinated participants?

In addition it would be interesting to get a better grasp on the "decay rate" of the antibody levels. Perhaps some of this research was done and I missed it.

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From our donor population we see that around 95%+ of our convalescent plasma donor keep and maintain similar titer levels across their donations

SoulSlaveAG2005 said:

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The antibody test we are using does not detect the immune response to the vaccine.

https://www.carterbloodcare.org/now-offering-covid-19-antibody-testing-for-blood-donors/

ETA; not sure where you donated but we are using the same test as gulf coast and multiple other blood banks.

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That's good to know. I think the general public should probably know this as well, because I think it would create a lot of confusion as to people thinking the vaccine didn't produce a response. Maybe include this in the donation literature if possible.

Carter in Tyler.

Cactus Jack said:

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SoulSlaveAG2005 said:

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The antibody test we are using does not detect the immune response to the vaccine.

https://www.carterbloodcare.org/now-offering-covid-19-antibody-testing-for-blood-donors/

ETA; not sure where you donated but we are using the same test as gulf coast and multiple other blood banks.

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That's good to know. I think the general public should probably know this as well, because I think it would create a lot of confusion as to people thinking the vaccine didn't produce a response. Maybe include this in the donation literature if possible.

Carter in Tyler.

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Agreed. We are doing our best to put information out, but get drowned out by a lot of other stories.

Next time you come donate, shoot me a pm. I office in Tyler. I'll come down and say hi and thank you in person for helping out.

Coworker was vaccinated 12/23, lost smell late 1/10. Tested positive 1/11. He had a pretty robust response to the vaccine, body aches, low grade fever so we figured he may have had a prior infection.. The best I can figure is he probably got infected within a day or two of having sufficient antibodies to provide protection and had a longer incubation period.

I dunno.

Vaccine doesn't produce antibodies.