SARS CoV-2 Delta variant exhibits enhanced infectivity and a minor decrease in neutralization sensitivity to convalescent or post-vaccination sera
Alona Kuzmina,
Seraj Wattad,
Yara Khalaila,
Aner Ottolenghi,
Benyamin Rosental,
Stanislav Engel,
Elli Rosenberg,
Ran Taube
Affiliations
Alona Kuzmina
The Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology Immunology and Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
Seraj Wattad
The Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology Immunology and Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
Yara Khalaila
Soroka Medical Center, Beer Sheva, Israel
Aner Ottolenghi
The Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology Immunology and Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel; Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research Center, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
Benyamin Rosental
The Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology Immunology and Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel; Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research Center, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
Stanislav Engel
Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
Elli Rosenberg
Soroka Medical Center, Beer Sheva, Israel
Ran Taube
The Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology Immunology and Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel; Corresponding author
Summary: Since their identification, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Kappa and Delta have rapidly spread to become globally dominant. However, their infectivity and sensitivity to administered vaccines have not been documented. We monitored the neutralization potential of convalescent or BNT162b2 post-vaccination sera against Kappa and Delta SARS-CoV-2 pseudoviruses. We show that both variants were successfully neutralized by convalescent and post-vaccination sera, exhibiting a mild decrease in their neutralization sensitivity. Of the two variants, Delta presented enhanced infectivity levels compared with Kappa or wild-type SARS-CoV-2. Nevertheless, both variants were not as infectious or resistant to post-vaccination sera as the Beta variant of concern. Interestingly, the Delta plus variant (AY.1/B.1.617.2.1) exhibited high resistance to post-vaccination sera, similar to that of the Beta SARS-CoV-2. However, its infectivity levels were close to those of wild-type SARS-CoV-2. These results account for the worldwide prevalence of Delta variant of concern and confirm the efficacy of the BNT162b2 vaccine against circulating other Delta variants.
