Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics (Nov 2022)

The neutralizing response to SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants BA.1 and BA.2 in COVID-19 patients and homologous and heterologous vaccinees

  • Francesca Dapporto,
  • Margherita Leonardi,
  • Claudia Maria Trombetta,
  • Claudia Semplici,
  • Pietro Piu,
  • Giulia Piccini,
  • Linda Benincasa,
  • Serena Marchi,
  • Emanuele Andreano,
  • Piero Lovreglio,
  • Nicola Buonvino,
  • Nicola Decaro,
  • Angela Stufano,
  • Eleonora Lorusso,
  • Emilio Bombardieri,
  • Antonella Ruello,
  • Simonetta Viviani,
  • Rino Rappuoli,
  • Eleonora Molesti,
  • Alessandro Manenti,
  • Emanuele Montomoli

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2022.2129196
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 18, no. 6

Abstract

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The rapid replacement of Omicron BA.1 by BA.2 sublineage is very alarming, raising the question of whether BA.2 can escape the immunity acquired after BA.1 infection. We compared the neutralizing activity toward the Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 sub-lineages in five groups: COVID-19 patients; subjects who had received two doses of mRNA vaccine; subjects naturally infected with SARS-CoV-2 who had received two doses of mRNA; and subjects who had received three doses of homologous or heterologous vaccine. The results obtained highlight the importance of vaccine boosters in eliciting neutralizing antibody responses against Omicron sub-lineages, and suggest that the adenovirus vectored vaccine elicits a lower response against BA.1 than against BA.2 sub-lineage.

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