COVID-19 vaccine booster provides good antibody protection against Omicron

Francis Crick Institute and UCLH NIHR Biomedical Research Centre press release  

Under strict embargo: 23:30hrs GMT Wednesday January 19, 2022

Peer reviewed  

Observational study  

People   

COVID-19 vaccine booster provides good antibody protection against Omicron  

A third ‘booster’ dose of COVID-19 vaccine successfully raises antibody levels that neutralise the Omicron variant, according to laboratory findings from the Francis Crick Institute and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) UCLH Biomedical Research Centre, published today (Wednesday) as a Research letter in The Lancet. 

Researchers found that antibodies generated in people who had received only two doses of either the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine or the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine were less able to neutralise the Omicron variant as compared to the Alpha and Delta variants.*

They also found that antibody levels dropped off in the first three months following the second dose but that a third ‘booster’ dose raised levels of antibodies that effectively neutralise the Omicron variant.

In people who had received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for all three doses, antibody levels against Omicron after a third dose were similar to those previously reached against Delta after only two doses.**  Overall, antibody levels were nearly 2.5x higher against Omicron after three doses compared to after two.***

Higher levels of antibodies against the Omicron variant were also found in people who received two doses of either vaccine and also reported previously having COVID-19 symptoms, compared to those had not previously had COVID-19 symptoms.  

Whilst levels of antibodies alone do not predict vaccine effectiveness, they are a very good indicator of protection against severe COVID-19. This study confirms that three doses of COVID-19 vaccine are essential to boost antibodies to quantifiable levels and maximise the amount of protection against severe disease and hospitalisation. 

Researchers have submitted their findings to the Genotype-to-Phenotype National Virology Consortium (G2P-UK), the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).   

As part of the SARS-CoV-2 Legacy study, led by the Crick and partners at UCL and University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH), healthcare workers and staff from the institutions have been donating regular blood and swab samples so that researchers can track changing risk of infection and response to vaccination.  

The Legacy team analysed 620 blood samples from 364 people who enrolled in the study. They used robust high throughput viral neutralisation assays, developed at the Crick, to test the ability of antibodies to block entry of the virus into cells, so called ‘neutralising antibodies’, against different variants of SARS-CoV-2, including Omicron.  

Higher antibody titres (the greatest dilution level that still blocks 50% of virus infection in the lab) are a good predictor of vaccine efficacy and greater protection against COVID-19.   

Importantly, they also included synthetic neutralising antibodies that are currently in clinical use for COVID-19 treatment, in their analysis, to test if these synthetic antibodies have neutralising activity against variants of SARS-CoV-2 including Omicron. 

The researchers found that Xevudy (sotrovimab), a recently-approved synthetic monoclonal antibody used to prevent and treat patients at risk of developing severe COVID-19, was able to neutralise the Omicron variant.  

Dr Emma Wall, UCLH Infectious Diseases consultant and Senior Clinical Research Fellow for the Legacy study, said: “People who have queued outside vaccinations centres should be reassured that a vaccine booster is the best way of protecting them from Omicron. And for people who haven’t yet had a booster or even a first dose, it’s not too late.

“This new variant can overcome the immune blockade put in place by two vaccine doses, but thankfully following the third dose, neutralising activity is robust in the vast majority of people. A third dose builds our defences higher, making it harder for the virus to cause severe COVID-19.” 

David LV Bauer, Group Leader of the Crick’s RNA Virus Replication Laboratory and member of the G2P-UK National Virology Consortium, said: “While the Omicron variant has considerably more mutations than other recent variants, such as Alpha and Delta, our data show that the boosters push our immune system to make a broad response capable of tackling it.” 

Bryan Williams, UCLH Director of Research said “This research shows the power of the partnership between the Crick and the NHS, through our NIHR Biomedical Research Centre. As well as this key vaccine efficacy data, we have really important early data to suggest that at least some versions of synthetic antibodies that we currently use to treat certain patients, are likely to be effective against this new variant.” 

Charles Swanton, Legacy Chief Investigator at the Crick and Consultant Oncologist at UCLH said: “Our results are an estimate of protection in the community and as boosters are rolled out at record speeds, many can be confident in their level of vaccine protection after three doses.”  

Sonia Gandhi, Legacy Chief Investigator at the Crick and Consultant Neurologist at UCLH, said: “Now that we have established that boosters are effective against the Omicron variant, future research will need to address the duration and persistence of this booster response. New variants of concern will continue to emerge as the pandemic evolves, so effective immune monitoring is needed to stay responsive and remain protected.” 

-ENDS-  

For further information, contact: press@crick.ac.uk or +44 (0)20 3796 5252  

Notes to Editors  

Reference: Wu, M. & Wall, E. et al. (2022). Three-dose vaccination elicits neutralising antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. The Lancet. Post embargo link - http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)00092-7/fulltext

Research letters published in the Correspondence section include research findings and are externally peer-reviewed. Unlike Articles containing original data, research letters are shorter and the research they contain is usually preliminary, exploratory, or reporting on early findings. 

*For people who had the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for their first and second doses, antibody levels were around three times lower against Omicron after two doses, compared to Delta. For Oxford/AstraZeneca recipients, levels against Omicron were too low to measure and compare.

** Average antibody titres against Omicron after three vaccine doses (Pfizer/BioNTech recipients) were comparable to those against Delta after just two doses.

*** In Pfizer/BioNTech recipients, average antibody titres were 2.4x higher against Omicron after 3 doses compared to after two doses.

The Francis Crick Institute is a biomedical discovery institute dedicated to understanding the fundamental biology underlying health and disease. Its work is helping to understand why disease develops and to translate discoveries into new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, infections, and neurodegenerative diseases.  

An independent organisation, its founding partners are the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK, Wellcome, UCL (University College London), Imperial College London and King’s College London.  

The Crick was formed in 2015, and in 2016 it moved into a brand new state-of-the-art building in central London which brings together 1500 scientists and support staff working collaboratively across disciplines, making it the biggest biomedical research facility under a single roof in Europe.   

http://crick.ac.uk/  

About UCLH  
UCLH (University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) provides first-class acute and specialist services in five hospitals in Central London including the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery at Queen Square which is the largest hospital of its kind in the UK. UCLH is committed to education and research and forms part of UCLPartners which in March 2009 was officially designated as one of the UK's first academic health science centres by the Department of Health. UCLH works closely with UCL, translating research into treatments for patients through its NIHR Biomedical Research Centre.. For more information visit www.uclh.nhs.uk. We are also on Facebook (UCLHNHS), Twitter (@uclh), Youtube (UCLHvideo) and Instagram (@uclh).  

About the NIHR  

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is the nation's largest funder of health and care research. The NIHR:  

• Funds, supports and delivers high quality research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care  
• Engages and involves patients, carers and the public in order to improve the reach, quality and impact of research  
• Attracts, trains and supports the best researchers to tackle the complex health and care challenges of the future  
• Invests in world-class infrastructure and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatments and services  
• Partners with other public funders, charities and industry to maximise the value of research to patients and the economy  

• The NIHR was established in 2006 to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research, and is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. In addition to its national role, the NIHR supports applied health research for the direct and primary benefit of people in low- and middle-income countries, using UK aid from the UK government.  

    

   

  sts in world-class infrastructure and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatments and services  
• Partners with other public funders, charities and industry to maximise the value of research to patients and the economy  

The NIHR was established in 2006 to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research, and is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. In addition to its national role, the NIHR supports applied health research for the direct and primary benefit of people in low- and middle-income countries, using UK aid from the UK government.