Plasma Neutralization of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant

Schmidt, Fabian; Muecksch, Frauke; Weisblum, Yiska; DaSilva, Justin; Bednarski, Eva; Cho, Alice; Wang, Zijun; Gaebler, Christian; Caskey, Marina; Nussenzweig, Michel C.; Hatziioannou, Théodora; Bieniasz, Paul D.

doi:10.1056/nejmc2119641

Cited by 401 publications

(424 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

379

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In this rapid review study, we found that Omicron has several times higher odds of infecting fully vaccinated and previously infected people compared to Delta and other variants, and this is consistent among other studies [7], [9], [11], [12], [16]. One study also found no signi cant difference in the risk of infections among unvaccinated people when they compared the Omicron variant with Delta [8].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Reduced neutralization of the Omicron variant has been seen in investigations using plasma specimens from persons who received the entire (two-or three-dose) mRNA vaccination series [11] and from patients who had previously been infected with SARS-CoV-2 [12]. Besides, several early observational studies revealed that COVID-19 vaccinations were substantially less e cacious in preventing Omicron variant infection [13]- [15].…”

Section: Immune Evasion and Reinfectionmentioning

confidence: 98%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Omicron SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern: A Review on its Transmissibility, Immune Evasion, Reinfection, and Severity

Maqbool

Mahmud

2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Omicron, the new Covid-19 variant, has already become dominant in many countries and is spreading at an unprecedented speed. The objective of this study was to review the existing literature on Omicron’s transmissibility, immune evasion, reinfection, and severity.Method: A literature search was performed in “PubMed”, “Web of Science”, “Scopus”, "ScienceDirect", “Google Scholar”, “medRxiv”, and “bioRxiv”. Data were extracted from articles that reported at least one of transmissibility, immune evasion, reinfection, and severity related to Omicron.Findings: We found that Omicron spreads faster than any other previous variants. This higher transmissibility can be ascribed to its more extraordinary ability to evade immunity developed by both vaccinations and previous infections. However, we found that infections by Omicron are significantly less severe compared to infections by Delta and other previous variants. We observed a significantly lower incidence of hospitalization, intensive care unit, and mechanical ventilator use, a shorter median hospital stay, and lower fatality rates in Omicron infections than Delta and other variants.Conclusion: Omicron might be less severe than other VOCs. However, its immune evasiveness and faster spread pose an enormous threat to the global healthcare system.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Immune Evasion and Reinfectionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Omicron SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern: A Review on its Transmissibility, Immune Evasion, Reinfection, and Severity

Maqbool

Mahmud

2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…10 We found an increase in the percentage of neutralization against the WT, Delta and Omicron variants after the third vaccine dose as has been reported in immunocompetent individuals. 17,18 About half of KTRs had neutralizing responses to the WT and Delta variants after third vaccine dose, consistent with what has been reported previously in KTRs. 19 The presence of Delta variant neutralization in KTRs with anti-WT but not anti-Delta spike antibodies suggests cross-reactivity of anti-WT spike antibodies with the Delta variant.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Diminished antibody response against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant after third dose of mRNA vaccine in kidney transplant recipients

Jurdi

Gassen

Borges

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Available SARS-CoV-2 vaccines have reduced efficacy against the Omicron variant in immunocompetent individuals. Kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) have diminished antiviral responses to wild-type SARS-CoV-2 after vaccination, and data on antiviral responses to SARS-CoV-2 variants, including the Omicron variant, are limited. Methods: We conducted a prospective, multi-center cohort study of 51 adult KTRs who received three doses of BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273. Blood and urine samples were collected before and four weeks after the third vaccine dose. The primary outcome was anti-viral antibody responses against wild-type and variants of SARS-CoV-2. Secondary objectives included occurrence of breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection and non-invasive monitoring for rejection using serum creatinine, proteinuria, donor-derived cell-free DNA and donor-specific antibodies. Sera from pre-pandemic healthy controls and KTRs were used for comparison. Results: 67% of KTRs developed anti-wild-type spike antibodies after the third vaccine dose, similar to the Alpha (51%) and Beta (53%) variants, but higher than the Gamma (39%) and Delta (25%) variants. No KTRs had neutralizing responses to the Omicron variant before the third vaccine dose. After the third dose, fewer KTRs had neutralizing responses to the Omicron variant (12%) compared to wild-type (61%) and Delta (59%) variants. Three patients (6%) developed breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection at a median of 89 days. No KTRs developed allograft injury, de novo donor-specific antibodies or allograft rejection. Conclusion: In KTRs, a third dose of mRNA vaccines increases antibody responses against wild-type and variants of SARS-CoV-2, while neutralizing responses to the Omicron variant remain markedly reduced.

show abstract

“…This fitness advantage has been tentatively linked with a substantial ability to evade immunity from previous infection ( Pulliam et al, 2021 ), which might be consistent with the high number of non-synonymous mutations and indels observed in the S gene compared with the reference SARS-CoV-2 genome. These include a number of previously described RBD mutations associated with the aforementioned VOC, such as T478K and N501Y, plus E484A, which suggested significant immune evasion properties, later confirmed by a number of in vitro studies ( Cele et al, 2021 ; Garcia-Beltran et al, 2021 ; Schmidt et al, 2021 ; Willett et al, 2022 ). Based on early epidemiological data and on the growing number of imported cases reported abroad, on December 1 st , 2021 WHO included B.1.1.529 in the list of VOCs under the “omicron” designation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 71%

“…This unusual pattern of mutations results in significant immune escape in vitro and in an enhanced reinfection potential in vivo ( Cele et al, 2021 ; Garcia-Beltran et al, 2021 ; Schmidt et al, 2021 ; Willett et al, 2022 ). Moreover, omicron displays an altered cellular tropism and cell entry mechanism, which depends on the acquisition of an enhanced ability to rely on the TMPRSS2-independent endosomal route ( Peacock et al, 2022 ; Willett et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emergence of a recurrent insertion in the N-terminal domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Tracking the evolution of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) through genomic surveillance programs is undoubtedly one of the key priorities in the current pandemic situation. Although the genome of SARS-CoV-2 acquires mutations at a slower rate compared with other RNA viruses, evolutionary pressures derived from the widespread circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in the human population have progressively favored the global emergence, though natural selection, of several variants of concern that carry multiple non-synonymous mutations in the spike glycoprotein. These are often placed in key sites within major antibody epitopes and may therefore confer resistance to neutralizing antibodies, leading to partial immune escape, or otherwise compensate infectivity deficits associated with other non-synonymous substitutions. As previously shown by other authors, several emerging variants carry recurrent deletion regions (RDRs) that display a partial overlap with antibody epitopes located in the spike N-terminal domain (NTD). Comparatively, very little attention had been directed towards spike insertion mutations prior to the emergence of the B.1.1.529 (omicron) lineage. This manuscript describes a single recurrent insertion region (RIR1) in the N-terminal domain of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, characterized by at least 49 independent acquisitions of 1-8 additional codons between Val213 and Leu216 in different viral lineages. Even though RIR1 is unlikely to confer antibody escape, its association with two distinct formerly widespread lineages (A.2.5 and B.1.214.2), with the quickly spreading omicron and with other VOCs and VOIs warrants further investigation concerning its effects on spike structure and viral infectivity.

show abstract

Plasma Neutralization of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant

Cited by 401 publications

References 5 publications

Omicron SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern: A Review on its Transmissibility, Immune Evasion, Reinfection, and Severity

Omicron SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern: A Review on its Transmissibility, Immune Evasion, Reinfection, and Severity

Diminished antibody response against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant after third dose of mRNA vaccine in kidney transplant recipients

Emergence of a recurrent insertion in the N-terminal domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About