Metal

Gene

Demography

Biology

Spike Protein

Virology

Bivalent (engine)

Titer

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)

Neutralizing antibody

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Immunology

Dominance (genetics)

Genetics

Monoclonal antibody

Organic chemistry

Population

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Sociology

Medicine

Chemistry

Virus

Disease

Antibody

Neutralization

Pathology

Cell

The BQ and XBB subvariants of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron are now rapidly expanding, possibly due to altered antibody evasion properties deriving from their additional spike mutations. Here, we report that neutralization of BQ.1, BQ.1.1, XBB, and XBB.1 by sera from vaccinees and infected persons was markedly impaired, including sera from individuals boosted with a WA1/BA.5 bivalent mRNA vaccine. Titers against BQ and XBB subvariants were lower by 13- to 81-fold and 66- to 155-fold, respectively, far beyond what had been observed to date. Monoclonal antibodies capable of neutralizing the original Omicron variant were largely inactive against these new subvariants, and the responsible individual spike mutations were identified. These subvariants were found to have similar ACE2-binding affinities as their predecessors. Together, our findings indicate that BQ and XBB subvariants present serious threats to current COVID-19 vaccines, render inactive all authorized antibodies, and may have gained dominance in the population because of their advantage in evading antibodies.

Alarming antibody evasion properties of rising SARS-CoV-2 BQ and XBB subvariants