Omicron extensively but incompletely escapes Pfizer BNT162b2 neutralization

Sandile Cele, Laurelle Jackson, David S. Khoury, Khadija Khan, Thandeka Moyo-Gwete, Houriiyah Tegally, James Emmanuel San, Deborah Cromer, Cathrine Scheepers, Daniel G. Amoako, Farina Karim, Mallory Bernstein, Gila Lustig, Derseree Archary, Muneerah Smith, Yashica Ganga, Zesuliwe Jule, Kajal Reedoy, Shi-Hsia Hwa, Jennifer Giandhari, Jonathan M. Blackburn, Bernadett I. Gosnell, Salim S. Abdool Karim, Willem Hanekom, Anne Gottberg, Jinal N. Bhiman, Richard J. Lessells, Mahomed-Yunus S. Moosa, Miles P. Davenport, Tulio Oliveira, Penny L. Moore and Alex Sigal ()
Additional contact information
Sandile Cele: Africa Health Research Institute
Laurelle Jackson: Africa Health Research Institute
David S. Khoury: University of New South Wales
Khadija Khan: Africa Health Research Institute
Thandeka Moyo-Gwete: National Institute for Communicable Diseases of the National Health Laboratory Service
Houriiyah Tegally: KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform
James Emmanuel San: KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform
Deborah Cromer: University of New South Wales
Cathrine Scheepers: National Institute for Communicable Diseases of the National Health Laboratory Service
Daniel G. Amoako: University of KwaZulu-Natal
Farina Karim: Africa Health Research Institute
Mallory Bernstein: Africa Health Research Institute
Gila Lustig: Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa
Derseree Archary: Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa
Muneerah Smith: University of Cape Town
Yashica Ganga: Africa Health Research Institute
Zesuliwe Jule: Africa Health Research Institute
Kajal Reedoy: Africa Health Research Institute
Shi-Hsia Hwa: Africa Health Research Institute
Jennifer Giandhari: KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform
Jonathan M. Blackburn: University of Cape Town
Bernadett I. Gosnell: University of KwaZulu-Natal
Salim S. Abdool Karim: Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa
Willem Hanekom: Africa Health Research Institute
Anne Gottberg: National Institute for Communicable Diseases of the National Health Laboratory Service
Jinal N. Bhiman: National Institute for Communicable Diseases of the National Health Laboratory Service
Richard J. Lessells: KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform
Mahomed-Yunus S. Moosa: University of KwaZulu-Natal
Miles P. Davenport: University of New South Wales
Tulio Oliveira: KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform
Penny L. Moore: National Institute for Communicable Diseases of the National Health Laboratory Service
Alex Sigal: Africa Health Research Institute

Nature, 2022, vol. 602, issue 7898, 654-656

Abstract: Abstract The emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern Omicron (Pango lineage B.1.1.529), first identified in Botswana and South Africa, may compromise vaccine effectiveness and lead to re-infections1. Here we investigated Omicron escape from neutralization by antibodies from South African individuals vaccinated with Pfizer BNT162b2. We used blood samples taken soon after vaccination from individuals who were vaccinated and previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 or vaccinated with no evidence of previous infection. We isolated and sequence-confirmed live Omicron virus from an infected person and observed that Omicron requires the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor to infect cells. We compared plasma neutralization of Omicron relative to an ancestral SARS-CoV-2 strain and found that neutralization of ancestral virus was much higher in infected and vaccinated individuals compared with the vaccinated-only participants. However, both groups showed a 22-fold reduction in vaccine-elicited neutralization by the Omicron variant. Participants who were vaccinated and had previously been infected exhibited residual neutralization of Omicron similar to the level of neutralization of the ancestral virus observed in the vaccination-only group. These data support the notion that reasonable protection against Omicron may be maintained using vaccination approaches.

Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (32)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04387-1 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:602:y:2022:i:7898:d:10.1038_s41586-021-04387-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04387-1

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().