Improved Neutralisation of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant following a Booster Dose of Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2) COVID-19 Vaccine

Kerri Basile; Rebecca J Rockett; Kenneth McPhie; Michael Fennell; Jessica Johnson-Mackinnon; Jessica E Agius; Winkie Fong; Hossinur Rahman; Danny Ko; Linda Donavan; Linda Hueston; Connie Lam; Alicia Arnott; Sharon C-A Chen; Susan Maddocks; Matthew V O'Sullivan; Dominic E Dwyer; Vitali Sintchenko; Jen Kok

doi:10.3390/v14092023

Improved Neutralisation of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant following a Booster Dose of Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2) COVID-19 Vaccine

Viruses. 2022 Sep 13;14(9):2023. doi: 10.3390/v14092023.

Authors

Kerri Basile¹, Rebecca J Rockett^{2

3}, Kenneth McPhie^{1

4}, Michael Fennell¹, Jessica Johnson-Mackinnon², Jessica E Agius², Winkie Fong², Hossinur Rahman¹, Danny Ko¹, Linda Donavan¹, Linda Hueston^{1

5}, Connie Lam², Alicia Arnott¹, Sharon C-A Chen^{1

2

3}, Susan Maddocks¹, Matthew V O'Sullivan^{1

2

3}, Dominic E Dwyer^{1

2

3}, Vitali Sintchenko^{1

2

3}, Jen Kok^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Laboratory Services, NSW Health Pathology, Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia.
² Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology-Public Health, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia.
³ Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
⁴ The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Westmead, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia.
⁵ Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD 4222, Australia.

Abstract

In late November 2021, the World Health Organization declared the SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.1.529 the fifth variant of concern, Omicron. This variant has acquired over 30 mutations in the spike protein (with 15 in the receptor-binding domain), raising concerns that Omicron could evade naturally acquired and vaccine-derived immunity. We utilized an authentic virus, multicycle neutralisation assay to demonstrate that sera collected one, three, and six months post-two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 had a limited ability to neutralise SARS-CoV-2. However, four weeks after a third dose, neutralising antibody titres were boosted. Despite this increase, neutralising antibody titres were reduced fourfold for Omicron compared to lineage A.2.2 SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords: COVID-19; Omicron; Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2; SARS-CoV-2; VOC; immunity; neutralising antibodies; vaccine.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Antibodies, Neutralizing
Antibodies, Viral
BNT162 Vaccine
COVID-19 Vaccines
COVID-19* / prevention & control
Humans
SARS-CoV-2 / genetics
Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus / genetics
Vaccines*
Viral Envelope Proteins / genetics

Substances

Antibodies, Neutralizing
Antibodies, Viral
COVID-19 Vaccines
Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
Vaccines
Viral Envelope Proteins
spike protein, SARS-CoV-2
BNT162 Vaccine

Supplementary concepts

SARS-CoV-2 variants

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the Prevention Research Support Program funded by the NSW Ministry of Health, NSW Health COVID-19 priority funding, and the National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia (APPRISE 1116530). Basile is supported by a Jerry Koutts PhD Scholarship from the Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research Trust Fund.