Variable neutralizing antibody responses to 10 SARS-CoV-2 variants in natural infection with wild- type (B.1) virus, Kappa (B.1.617.1), and Delta (B.1.617.2) variants and COVISHIELD vaccine immunization in India: utility of the MSD platform

For the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, emergence of variants accumulating immune-escape mutations remains a major concern. We analyzed the anti-variant (n = 10) neutralization activity of sera from COVID-19 patients infected with Wuhan (B.1), Kappa, and Delta variants and COVISHIELD vaccine recipients with (prepositives) or without (prenegatives) prior antibody positivity using V- PLEX ACE2 Neutralization Kit from MSD. MSD and PRNT(50) correlated well (r = 0.76–0.83, p < 0.0001). Despite the least antibody positivity in Kappa patients, anti-variant neutralizing antibody (Nab) levels in the responders were comparable with Delta patients. Vaccinees sampled at 1 month (PD2-1) and 6 months (PD2-6) post-second dose showed the highest seropositivity and Nab levels against the Wuhan strain. At PD2-1, the responder rate was variant-dependent and 100% respectively in prenegatives and prepositives. Nab levels against B.1.135.1, B.1.620, B.1.1.7+E484K (both groups), AY.2 (prenegatives), and B.1.618 (prepositives) were lower than that of Wuhan. At PD2-6, positivity decreased to 15.6%–68.8% in the prenegatives; 3.5%–10.7% of prepositives turned negative for the same four variants. As against the decline in Nab levels in 9/10 variants (prenegatives), a further reduction was seen against the same four variants in the prepositives. These variants possess immune-evasion-associated mutations in the RBD/S region. In conclusion, our data show that the Nab response of patients to multiple variants depends on the infecting variant. We confirm superiority of hybrid immunity in neutralizing multiple variants. Depending on the infecting variant pre- or postvaccination, immune response to different vaccines in different populations will vary and impact protection against emerging variants. The MSD platform provides an excellent alternative to live virus/pseudovirus neutralization tests.