COVID-19 vaccination and BA.1 breakthrough infection induce neutralising antibodies which are less efficient against BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron variants, Israel, March to June 2022

Euro Surveill. 2022 Jul;27(30):2200559. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.30.2200559.

Abstract

This work evaluated neutralising antibody titres against wild type (WT) SARS-CoV-2 and four Omicron variants (BA.1, BA.2, BA.4 and BA.5) in healthcare workers who had breakthrough BA.1 infection. Omicron breakthrough infection in individuals vaccinated three or four times before infection resulted in increased neutralising antibodies against the WT virus. The fourth vaccine dose did not further improve the neutralising efficiency over the third dose against all Omicron variants, especially BA.4 and BA.5. An Omicron-specific vaccine may be indicated.

Keywords: BA.4/5; BNT162b2 vaccination; COVID-19; Neutralizing; Omicron.

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies, Neutralizing
  • Antibodies, Viral
  • COVID-19 Vaccines
  • COVID-19* / prevention & control
  • Humans
  • Israel / epidemiology
  • SARS-CoV-2 / genetics
  • Vaccination / methods
  • Vaccines*

Substances

  • Antibodies, Neutralizing
  • Antibodies, Viral
  • COVID-19 Vaccines
  • Vaccines

Supplementary concepts

  • SARS-CoV-2 variants