Ministry Of Health: Booster Vaccine Increases Antibody Titers Against COVID-19 Infection

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JAKARTA - Senior Manager of the Strategic Delivery Unit of the Ministry of Health, Ririn Ramadhany, said that based on the results of research conducted by his party, the booster vaccine was able to increase antibody titers to fight infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.

"We found that homologous and heterologous boosters succeeded in increasing antibody titers, there were no significant adverse reactions to both homologous and heterologous boosters," said Ririn at the Webinar Indonesian Congress Symposium on Combating COVID-19 Pandemic without Boundaries in Jakarta, quoted by Antara, Sunday, January 16.

Ririn said that there was no significant difference in antibody titers between age groups, although it did tend to be lower among the elderly (elderly) or those aged over 60 years. The age groups were 18-25 years, 26-40 years, 41-60 years, and over 60 years.

"There is no significant difference in terms of antibody titers between age groups, although it tends to be lower among the elderly or those aged over 60 years," she said.

However, she stressed that antibody titers are not the only thing that determines the level of self-protection against COVID-19.

"The antibody titer here, in this case, does not always reflect the immunity of the human body, this is only one factor," she said.

For the homologous booster with Sinovac vaccine, Ririn said that there was an increase in antibody titer one month after injection, which increased by 7.8 times in terms of antibody titer.

In addition, there was no significant difference for the interval of less than or more than six months between the second injection and the booster.

For heterologous vaccines using the Moderna vaccine, there was a significant increase in antibody titer after receiving the booster with Moderna, and the antibody increased 67-fold compared to before receiving the booster.

In the difference in intervals of less than six months and more than six months between the second injection of the booster vaccine, the participants' antibody titers increased significantly for intervals of more than six months.

"We observed that antibody titers between age groups did not change significantly for heterologous vaccines," said Ririn.