Prime-Boost Vaccination With BNT162b2 Induces High Neutralizing Activity Against SARS-CoV-2 Variants in Naïve and COVID-19-Convalescent Individuals

Joanna Luczkowiak; Nuria Labiod; Gonzalo Rivas; Marta Rolo; Fátima Lasala; Jaime Lora-Tamayo; Mikel Mancheno-Losa; David Rial; Alfredo Pérez-Rivilla; María D Folgueira; Rafael Delgado

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofab468

Prime-Boost Vaccination With BNT162b2 Induces High Neutralizing Activity Against SARS-CoV-2 Variants in Naïve and COVID-19-Convalescent Individuals

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2021 Sep 24;8(10):ofab468. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofab468. eCollection 2021 Oct.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Instituto de Investigacion Hospital 12 de Octubre (imas12), Madrid, Spain.
² Department of Microbiology, Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain.
⁴ School of Medicine, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain.

Abstract

Background: The objective of this study was to investigate the neutralizing response against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants of concern (VoC) during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) convalescence and after vaccination.

Methods: COVID-19-convalescent and -naïve individuals were tested for neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 VoC Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta at 1 and 7 months postinfection and 4-6 weeks after BNT162b2 vaccination.

Results: Vaccination induced a high neutralizing response in naïve individuals. Interestingly, vaccination of convalescent patients induced a boosted response that was able to neutralize all VoC at high titers.

Conclusions: Vaccination with BNT162b2 induced high levels of neutralization against SARS-CoV-2 VoC in most patients; this is especially beneficial in COVID-19-convalescent individuals.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; neutralizing antibodies; vaccines; variants of concern.