Efficacy and Safety of Third Dose of the COVID-19 Vaccine among Solid Organ Transplant Recipients: A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis

Solid organ transplant recipients were demonstrated to have reduced antibody response to the first and second doses of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. This review evaluated published data on the efficacy and safety of the third dose among solid organ transplant recipients. We performed a systematic search of PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science to retrieve studies evaluating the efficacy of the third dose of anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in adult solid organ transplant recipients. Serologic response after the third vaccine was pooled using inverse variance and generalized linear mixed and random-effects models. Seven studies met our inclusion criteria. A total of 853 patients received the third dose. Except for one randomized controlled trial, all studies were retrospective in design. Following the third COVID-19 vaccine dose, antibody response occurred in 6.4-69.2% of patients. The pooled proportion of antibody response rate after the third vaccine was 50.3% (95% confidence interval (CI): 37.1-63.5, I² = 90%). Five papers reported the safety profile. No severe adverse events were observed after the third vaccine dose. In conclusion, a third dose of the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine in solid organ transplant recipients is associated with improved immunogenicity and appears to be safe. Nevertheless, a significant portion of patients remain seronegative.