Cross neutralization of Omicron BA.1 against BA.2 and BA.3 SARS-CoV-2

Abstract

The Omicron SARS-CoV-2 has three distinct sublineages, among which sublineage BA.1 is responsible for the initial Omicron surge and is now being replaced by BA.2 world-wide, whereas BA.3 is currently at a low frequency. The ongoing BA.1-to-BA.2 replacement underscores the importance to understand the cross-neutralization among the three Omicron sublineages. Here we tested the neutralization of BA.1-infected human sera against BA.2, BA.3, and USA/WA1-2020 (a strain isolated in late January 2020). The BA.1-infected sera neutralized BA.1, BA.2, BA.3, and USA/WA1-2020 SARS-CoV-2s with geometric mean titers (GMTs) of 445, 107, 102, and 16, respectively. Thus, the neutralizing GMTs against heterologous BA.2, BA.3, and USA/WA1-2020 were 4.2-, 4.4-, and 28.4-fold lower than the GMT against homologous BA.1, respectively. These findings have implications in COVID-19 vaccine strategy.