June 1, 2021

Neutralization Heterogeneity of United Kingdom and South-African SARS-CoV-2 Variants in BNT162b2-Vaccinated or Convalescent COVID-19 Healthcare Workers

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Vaccines and Immunity

Keywords (Tags): immunity, vaccines

• 97% (28 of 29) of healthcare workers with no prior infection had neutralizing activity against the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.351 variant of concern in their sera 1 week after receiving the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, compared to only 60% (9 of 15) of healthcare workers who had COVID-19 6 months earlier. Geometric mean titers (GMTs) for neutralizing antibodies against B.1.351 in vaccinated individuals were 10-fold higher (33 vs 3.3) than in convalescent individuals. GMTs against the B.1.351 variant were reduced compared to the D614G and B.1.1.7 variants regardless of vaccination status, and GMTs in vaccinated individuals were higher than in convalescent individuals regardless of variant.

Marot et al. (May 29, 2021). Neutralization Heterogeneity of United Kingdom and South-African SARS-CoV-2 Variants in BNT162b2-Vaccinated or Convalescent COVID-19 Healthcare Workers. Clinical Infectious Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciab492