The Paradigm Shift: Reclassification of SARS-CoV-2 and Longitudinal Immune Responses in Japanese Healthcare Workers

Under the aegis of the National Infectious Diseases Act, the virus transitioned from a Category 2 menace to Category 5, analogous to seasonal influenza. The current study has investigated the protracted immune responses of healthcare workers (HCWs) towards SARS-CoV-2 in Japan. One year subsequent to the systematically implemented SARS-CoV-2 vaccination campaign among HCWs, humoral and cellular immune responses were sustained at levels as high as or higher than those immediately following the 3rd booster vaccination. Persisting immunity has highlighted the resilience and lasting memory exhibited in HCW defense against the virus. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement This work was only funded by the budget of Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: Ethics committee/IRB of the Research Review Board of the Shiga University of Medical Science gave ethical approval for this work (No. R2021-039). I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors.