Ipsilateral and contralateral coadministration of influenza and COVID-19 vaccines produce similar antibody responses

BackgroundWorld Health Organisation (WHO) and USA Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC) recommendations now allow simultaneous administration of COVID-19 and other vaccines. We compared antibody responses after coadministration of influenza and bivalent COVID-19 vaccines in the same (ipsilateral) arm vs. different (contralateral) arms.MethodsPre- and post-vaccination serum samples from individuals in the Prospective Assessment of COVID-19 in a Community (PACC) cohort were used to conduct haemaglutination inhibition (HI) assays with the viruses in the 2022–2023 seasonal influenza vaccine and focus reduction neutralisation tests (FRNT) using a BA.5 SARS-CoV-2 virus. The effect of ipsilateral vs. contralateral vaccination on immune responses was inferred in a model that accounted for higher variance in vaccine responses at lower pre-vaccination titers.FindingsIpsilateral vaccination did not cause higher influenza vaccine responses compared to contralateral vaccination. The response to SARS-CoV-2 was slightly increased in the ipsilateral group, but equivalence was not excluded.InterpretationCoadministration of influenza and bivalent COVID-19 vaccines in the same arm or different arms did not strongly influence the antibody response to either vaccine.FundingThis work was supported by the U.S. CDC (grant number: 75D30120C09259).