Correlates of Neutralization against SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern by Early Pandemic Sera
Samuel J. Vidal, Ai‐ris Y. Collier, Jingyou Yu, Katherine McMahan, Lisa H. Tostanoski, John D. Ventura, Malika Aïd, Lauren Peter, Catherine Jacob-Dolan, Tochi Anioke, Aiquan Chang, Huahua Wan, Ricardo Aguayo, Debby Ngo, Robert E. Gerszten, Michael S. Seaman, Dan H. Barouch
Abstract
Widespread immunity to SARS-CoV-2 will be necessary to end the COVID-19 pandemic. NAb responses are a critical component of immunity that can be stimulated by natural infection as well as vaccines. However, SARS-CoV-2 variants are emerging that contain mutations in the spike gene that promote evasion from NAb responses. These variants may therefore delay control of the COVID-19 pandemic. We studied whether NAb responses from early COVID-19 convalescent patients are effective against the two SARS-CoV-2 variants, B.1.1.7 and B.1.351. We observed that the B.1.351 variant demonstrates significantly reduced susceptibility to early pandemic NAb responses. We additionally characterized virological, immunological, and clinical features that correlate with cross-neutralization. These studies increase our understanding of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.