Reduced neutralisation of the Delta (B.1.617.2) SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern following vaccination
More about Open Access at the CrickAuthors list
Chris Davis Nicola Logan Grace Tyson Richard Orton William T Harvey Jonathan S Perkins Guy Mollett Rachel M Blacow COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium Thomas P Peacock Wendy S Barclay Peter Cherepanov Massimo Palmarini Pablo R Murcia Arvind H Patel David L Robertson John Haughney Emma C Thomson Brian J Willett COVID-19 DeplOyed VaccinE (DOVE) Cohort Study investigatorsAbstract
Vaccines are proving to be highly effective in controlling hospitalisation and deaths associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection but the emergence of viral variants with novel antigenic profiles threatens to diminish their efficacy. Assessment of the ability of sera from vaccine recipients to neutralise SARS-CoV-2 variants will inform the success of strategies for minimising COVID19 cases and the design of effective antigenic formulations. Here, we examine the sensitivity of variants of concern (VOCs) representative of the B.1.617.1 and B.1.617.2 (first associated with infections in India) and B.1.351 (first associated with infection in South Africa) lineages of SARS-CoV-2 to neutralisation by sera from individuals vaccinated with the BNT162b2 (Pfizer/BioNTech) and ChAdOx1 (Oxford/AstraZeneca) vaccines. Across all vaccinated individuals, the spike glycoproteins from B.1.617.1 and B.1.617.2 conferred reductions in neutralisation of 4.31 and 5.11-fold respectively. The reduction seen with the B.1.617.2 lineage approached that conferred by the glycoprotein from B.1.351 (South African) variant (6.29-fold reduction) that is known to be associated with reduced vaccine efficacy. Neutralising antibody titres elicited by vaccination with two doses of BNT162b2 were significantly higher than those elicited by vaccination with two doses of ChAdOx1. Fold decreases in the magnitude of neutralisation titre following two doses of BNT162b2, conferred reductions in titre of 7.77, 11.30 and 9.56-fold respectively to B.1.617.1, B.1.617.2 and B.1.351 pseudoviruses, the reduction in neutralisation of the delta variant B.1.617.2 surpassing that of B.1.351. Fold changes in those vaccinated with two doses of ChAdOx1 were 0.69, 4.01 and 1.48 respectively. The accumulation of mutations in these VOCs, and others, demonstrate the quantifiable risk of antigenic drift and subsequent reduction in vaccine efficacy. Accordingly, booster vaccines based on updated variants are likely to be required over time to prevent productive infection. This study also suggests that two dose regimes of vaccine are required for maximal BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1-induced immunity.
Journal details
Journal PLOS Pathogens
Volume 17
Issue number 12
Pages e1010022
Available online
Publication date
Full text links
Publisher website (DOI) 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010022
Europe PubMed Central 34855916
Pubmed 34855916
Keywords
Related topics
Type of publication