SARS-CoV-2 collective immunity among the population of the Republic of Armenia

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Abstract

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic has become a substantial global health crisis, unparalleled in world history. Infection dynamics can have specific characteristics in different countries due to social, economic, climatic, or geographic factors. Aim: to study features of SARS-CoV-2 collective immunity among the Armenian population. Materials and methods. A cross-sectional, randomized study of collective immunity was carried out according to a program developed by Rospotrebnadzor and the St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute, taking into account WHO recommendations. The study was approved by the ethics committees of the National Center for Infectious Diseases (Armenia) and the St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute (Russia). A volunteer cohort was formed (N = 6057), randomized by age and region. The study’s analysis included: shares and distributions of antibodies (Abs) to nucleocapsid (Nc) antigen (Ag) and receptor binding domain (RBD) S-1 Ag in the cohort; and quantitative determination of these Abs by ELISA. During the survey, a history of vaccination was indicated by 4395 people. Results. Overall seropositivity formed in the whole cohort (by April 14, 2022) was 98.6% (95% CI: 98.1–98.7). It did not depend on age, place of residence, or occupation. When quantifying Nc and RBD Abs, the proportions of volunteers with Nc Ab levels of 1–17 BAU/ml and RBD Ab levels of 22.6–220 BAU/ml were the smallest, amounting to 6.9% (95% CI: 6.2–7.5) and 20.4% (95% CI: 19.4–21.4), respectively. With increasing serum concentrations (Nc > 667 BAU/ml, RBD > 450 BAU/ml), the proportions of individuals with the corresponding levels were 20.2% for Nc (95% CI: 19.2–21.3) and 54.2% for RBD (95% CI: 52.9–55.5). Vaccination coverage was 72.6% (95% CI: 71.5–73.7). The most frequently used were Sinopharm/BIBP (32.4%), AZD1222 (22.3%), and Gam-COVID-Vac (21%). The remaining vaccines (CoronaVac, mRNA-1273, BNT162b2, CoviVac) were used by 24.3% of vaccinated individuals. When summing vaccines by platform, it was found that: vector vaccines were used in 40.34% (95% CI: 33.57–42.39) of cases; whole-virion vaccines were used in 26.83% (95% CI: 24.76–32.20); and vector vaccines were used in 6.33% (95% CI: 4.84–8.91). Conclusion. The epidemic situation in Armenia by April 2022 was characterized by a high level of collective immunity, independent of age or regional factors. Vector and whole-virion vaccines have been used most widely.

About the authors

Anna Yu. Popova

Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare

Email: vssmi@mail.ru

DSc (Medicine), Professor, Head

Russian Federation, Moscow

Vyacheslav S. Smirnov

St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute

Author for correspondence.
Email: vssmi@mail.ru

DSc (Medicine), Professor, Leading Researcher, Laboratory of Molecular Immunology

Russian Federation, St. Petersburg

Svetlana A. Egorova

St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute

Email: vssmi@mail.ru

DSc (Medicine), Deputy Director for Innovation

Russian Federation, St. Petersburg

Artavazd V. Vanyan

National Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Email: vssmi@mail.ru

PhD (Medicine), General Director

Armenia, Yerevan

Angelika M. Milichkina

St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute

Email: vssmi@mail.ru

PhD (Medicine), Head Physician of the Medical Center

Russian Federation, St. Petersburg

Nune G. Bakunts

National Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Email: vssmi@mail.ru

Deputy-Director General

Armenia, Yerevan

Irina V. Drozd

St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute

Email: vssmi@mail.ru

PhD (Biology), Head of the Central Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory

Russian Federation, St. Petersburg

Romella A. Abovyan

National Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Email: vssmi@mail.ru

Head of the Department of Epidemiology of Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases

Armenia, Yerevan

Valeriy A. Ivanov

St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute

Email: vssmi@mail.ru

IT analyst

Russian Federation, St. Petersburg

Gayane G. Melik-Andreasyan

National Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Email: vssmi@mail.ru

DSc (Medicine), Professor, Deputy-Director for Scientific Work, “Referens Laboratory Center” Branch

Armenia, Yerevan

Edward Smith Ramsay

St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute

Email: vssmi@mail.ru

Science Analyst

Russian Federation, St. Petersburg

Gennady O. Palozyan

National Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Email: vssmi@mail.ru

Epidemiologist, Department of Epidemiology of Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases

Armenia, Yerevan

Tatyana V. Arbuzova

St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute

Email: vssmi@mail.ru

Junior Researcher, Epidemiological Monitoring and Forecasting Group

Russian Federation, St. Petersburg

Ara Sh. Keshishyan

National Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Email: vssmi@mail.ru

PhD (Medicine), Head of the Laboratory of Parasitology, “Referens Laboratory Center” Branch

Armenia, Yerevan

Ouna B. Zhimbayeva

St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute

Email: vssmi@mail.ru

Physician, Central Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory of the Medical Center

Russian Federation, St. Petersburg

Olga A. Petrova

St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute

Email: vssmi@mail.ru

Doctor of Clinical Laboratory Diagnostics, Central Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory of the Medical Center

Russian Federation, St. Petersburg

Alexandra V. Gubanova

St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute

Email: vssmi@mail.ru

Doctor of Clinical Laboratory Diagnostics, Central Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory of the Medical Center

Russian Federation, St. Petersburg

Alexandra P. Razumovskaya

St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute

Email: vssmi@mail.ru

Doctor of Clinical Laboratory Diagnostics, Central Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory of the Medical Center

Russian Federation, St. Petersburg

Areg A. Totolian

St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute

Email: vssmi@mail.ru

RAS Full Member, DSc (Medicine), Professor, Director

Russian Federation, St. Petersburg

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Supplementary files

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2. Figure 1. Incidence dynamics in the Armenian population for the entire observation period until April 14 2022

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3. Figure 2. Dynamics of COVID-19 vaccination in Armenia [6]

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4. Figure 3. Algorithm for organization and conduct of the study of SARS-CoV-2 collective immunity in the Republic of Armenia

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5. Figure 4. Volunteer seroprevalence by age group

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6. Figure 5. Volunteer seroprevalence by region of residence

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7. Figure 6. Distribution of the volunteer cohort by occupation with grouping

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8. Figure 7. Volunteer seroprevalence by field of activity

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9. Figure 8. Nc antibody serological intervals plotted by age group

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10. Figure 9. RBD antibody serological intervals plotted by age group

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11. Figure 10. Vaccine usage structure in Armenia by share

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12. Figure 11. Vaccination coverage by professional group

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13. Figure 12. Vaccination coverage by age group

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14. Figure 13. Distribution of the main vaccine types by age

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15. Figure 14. Share of completely vaccinated volunteers by region (as of 16/04/2022)

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16. Figure 15. Regional distribution of vaccine usage (%) by production platform

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17. Figure 16. Structure of seropositivity (RBD, Nc) following completion of immunization with inactivated vaccines

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18. Figure 17. Structure of seropositivity (RBD, Nc) following completion of immunization with vector vaccines

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19. Figure 18. Structure of seropositivity (RBD, Nc) following completion of immunization with mRNA vaccines

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20. Figure 18. Heat map of the regional distribution of SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence

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21. SUPPLIMENTARY MATERIALS FOR ARTICLE ID 2540
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Copyright (c) 2023 Popova A.Y., Smirnov V.S., Egorova S.A., Vanyan A.V., Milichkina A.M., Bakunts N.G., Drozd I.V., Abovyan R.A., Ivanov V.A., Melik-Andreasyan G.G., Ramsay E.S., Palozyan G.O., Arbuzova T.V., Keshishyan A.S., Zhimbayeva O.B., Petrova O.A., Gubanova A.V., Razumovskaya A.P., Totolian A.A.

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