Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Sep 14;12(9):1051.
doi: 10.3390/vaccines12091051.

Hybrid Immunity against SARS-CoV-2 Variants: A Narrative Review of the Literature

Panagiota Tsagkli  1 , Maria Geropeppa  1 , Ioanna Papadatou  1 , Vana Spoulou  1
Affiliations
Review

Hybrid Immunity against SARS-CoV-2 Variants: A Narrative Review of the Literature

Panagiota Tsagkli et al. Vaccines (Basel). .

Abstract

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 led to a global health crisis and the burden of the disease continues to persist. The rapid development and emergency authorization of various vaccines, including mRNA-based vaccines, played a pivotal role in mitigating severe illness and mortality. However, rapid viral mutations, leading to several variants of concern, challenged vaccine effectiveness, particularly concerning immune evasion. Research on immunity, both from natural infection and vaccination, revealed that while neutralizing antibodies provide protection against infection, their effect is short-lived. The primary defense against severe COVID-19 is derived from the cellular immune response. Hybrid immunity, developed from a combination of natural infection and vaccination, offers enhanced protection, with convalescent vaccinated individuals showing significantly higher levels of neutralizing antibodies. As SARS-CoV-2 continues to evolve, understanding the durability and breadth of hybrid immunity becomes crucial. This narrative review examines the latest data on humoral and cellular immunity from both natural infection and vaccination, discussing how hybrid immunity could inform and optimize future vaccination strategies in the ongoing battle against COVID-19 and in fear of a new pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; COVID-19 immunology; SARS-CoV-2 vaccination; SARS-CoV-2 variants; hybrid immunity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Kinetics of the various aspects of immune response to SARS-CoV-2 acquired by natural infection, vaccination, and hybrid immunity. Adapted from [80].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Number of COVID-19 Cases Reported to WHO. [(accessed on 24 June 2024)]. Available online: https://data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/cases?n=c.
    1. COVID-19 Vaccines with WHO Emergency Use Listing. [(accessed on 1 June 2024)]. Available online: https://extranet.who.int/prequal/vaccines/covid-19-vaccines-who-emergenc....
    1. Heinz F.X., Stiasny K. Distinguishing features of current COVID-19 vaccines: Knowns and unknowns of antigen presentation and modes of action. Npj Vaccines. 2021;6:104. doi: 10.1038/s41541-021-00369-6. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zeng B., Gao L., Zhou Q., Yu K., Sun F. Effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Med. 2022;20:200. doi: 10.1186/s12916-022-02397-y. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yang Z.-R., Jiang Y.-W., Li F.-X., Liu D., Lin T.-F., Zhao Z.-Y., Wei C., Jin Q.-Y., Li X.-M., Jia Y.-X., et al. Efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and the dose–response relationship with three major antibodies: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Lancet Microbe. 2023;4:e236–e246. doi: 10.1016/S2666-5247(22)00390-1. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources