Neutralization of the emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant Lambda by antibodies elicited by inactivated virus and mRNA vaccines

Abstract Here, we used pseudotyped viruses to characterize the neutralization capacity of antibodies elicited by the CoronaVac and BNT162b2 vaccines against the emerging variant of interest Lambda. We observed that BNT162b2 elicits higher neutralizing antibody titers than CoronaVac, ranging from 5.8-fold for the ancestral spike to 9.4-fold for the Lambda variant. Neutralization against D614G, Alpha, Gamma, and Lambda variants was reduced between 1.78 to 3.05-fold for CoronaVac and 1.10 to 1.87-fold for BNT162b2. Structural analyses of the Lambda spike show significant changes in antigenic sites including the 246–252 deletion in an antigenic supersite at the NTD loop and, L452Q/F490S within the RBD that may account for immune escape. Our analysis of pseudotyped viruses also suggests increased infectivity driven by the Lambda spike. Together, our data indicate that inactivated virus and mRNA vaccines elicit different levels of neutralizing antibodies with different potency to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 variants, including the emergent variant Lambda.