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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Immunol.

Sec. Viral Immunology

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1667392

This article is part of the Research TopicThe Influence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Long-COVID on The Incidence of Viral CoinfectionView all 8 articles

The landscape of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 variants: insights from a stratified vaccination cohort

Provisionally accepted
  • 1Universidade do Grande Rio, Duque de Caxias, Brazil
  • 2Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • 3Universidade Iguacu, Nova Iguaçu, Brazil

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the crucial role of vaccines in preventing infection and reducing disease severity. However, emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants have posed challenges to vaccine-induced immunity. Objective: To evaluate the immunological response and clinical characteristics of individuals with complete and incomplete COVID-19 vaccination schedules, with a focus on neutralizing antibody levels against SARS-CoV-2 variants. Methods:A total of 245 participants were analyzed, stratified by complete and incomplete vaccination status. Clinical data, serological responses, and neutralization levels against the Wuhan strain and the Delta and Omicron (BA.1, BA.2, BA.5) variants were evaluated. Results: Among the participants, 71 (29%) had an incomplete vaccination schedule, and 174 (71%) had completed the recommended doses. Despite only 118 (48.2%) of participants reporting a prior positive COVID-19 test, 210 (85.7%) tested positive for anti-nucleocapsid antibodies, underscoring a high rate of undiagnosed or asymptomatic infections. Neutralization levels were reduced in incompletely vaccinated individuals, especially against the Omicron BA.2 variant (89%). A moderate-to-strong correlation was found between declining immunity and increasing time since last vaccination or infection. Older participants demonstrated lower neutralization rates against the Wuhan and Delta strains, and cross-reactivity was observed between Wuhan and Delta, as well as between Omicron BA.1 and BA.2. Finally, a negative association was observed between time since the last known SARS-CoV-2 infection and neutralization against Omicron BA.2, as well as moderate-to-strong negative correlations with Omicron BA.5 and BA.1. Conclusion:COVID-19 vaccination is effective in eliciting protective immunity, although immune evasion by recent Omicron subvariants and waning immunity over time remain challenges.

Keywords: COVID-19, Vaccination, SARS-COV-2 variants, neutralizing antibodies, immune response

Received: 16 Jul 2025; Accepted: 01 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Andrade, da Silva, Miranda, da Silva Assis, Moreno, Moura, Da Fonseca, Silva and Cardozo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Ana Carolina Da Fonseca, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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