Thread by @sailorrooscout

•Antibodies from infected and vaccinated individuals bind to the B.1.351 RBD
•Convalescent sera through eight months can neutralize the B.1.351 variant
•Serum from vaccinated individuals retain neutralization against the B.1.351 variant
cell.com/cell-host-micr…

Researchers compared antibody binding and live virus neutralization of sera from individuals naturally infected and Moderna vaccinated individuals against two SARS-CoV-2 variants: B.1 containing the spike mutation D614G and variant B.1.351 containing additional spike mutations

and deletions. Researchers found that sera from acutely-infected and convalescent COVID-19 patients exhibited a 3-fold reduction in binding antibody titers to variant B.1.351’s receptor binding domain of the spike protein and a 3.5-fold reduction in neutralizing antibody titers

against SARS-CoV-2 B.1.351 variant compared to the B.1 variant. Similar results were seen with sera from Moderna vaccinated individuals. Despite reduced antibody titers against B.1.351, sera from infected and vaccinated individuals containing polyclonal antibodies to the spike

protein could STILL neutralize SARS-CoV-2 B.1.351. This suggests that protective humoral immunity may be retained against this variant. Their results show that despite few fold decrease, most infected individuals showed binding and neutralizing titers against the B.1.351 variant

in acute sera, convalescent sera through 8 months, and further, all vaccinated individuals maintained neutralization! These findings support the notion that in the context of variant B.1.351, infection- and vaccine-induced immunity can provide protection against COVID-19. Superb!