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. 2023 Feb 22;15(684):eabn4338.
doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abn4338. Epub 2023 Feb 22.

Elevated risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 Beta, Gamma, and Delta variants compared with Alpha variant in vaccinated individuals

Stijn P Andeweg  1 , Harry Vennema  1 , Irene Veldhuijzen  1 , Naomi Smorenburg  1 , Dennis Schmitz  1 , Florian Zwagemaker  1 , Arianne B van Gageldonk-Lafeber  1 , Susan J M Hahné  1 , Chantal Reusken  1 , Mirjam J Knol  1 , Dirk Eggink  1 ; SeqNeth Molecular surveillance group‡ and  1 ; RIVM COVID-19 Molecular epidemiology group‡  1
Affiliations

Elevated risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 Beta, Gamma, and Delta variants compared with Alpha variant in vaccinated individuals

Stijn P Andeweg et al. Sci Transl Med. .

Abstract

The extent to which severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants of concern (VOCs) break through infection- or vaccine-induced immunity is not well understood. We analyzed 28,578 sequenced SARS-CoV-2 samples from individuals with known immune status obtained through national community testing in the Netherlands from March to August 2021. We found evidence of an increased risk of infection by the Beta (B.1.351), Gamma (P.1), or Delta (B.1.617.2) variants compared with the Alpha (B.1.1.7) variant after vaccination. No clear differences were found between vaccines. However, the effect was larger in the first 14 to 59 days after complete vaccination compared with ≥60 days. In contrast to vaccine-induced immunity, there was no increased risk for reinfection with Beta, Gamma, or Delta variants relative to the Alpha variant in individuals with infection-induced immunity.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Variants found in SARS-CoV-2 positive samples of individuals with naïve (unvaccinated and no known previous infection), vaccine-induced, or infection-induced immune status. Number of naïve, partially vaccinated, fully vaccinated, and reinfected documented SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals by variant from March 1 to August 31, 2021 (upper panels) and proportion of the respective groups (lower panels) per week of sampling (in ISO 8601 format).
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Odds ratios of the logistic regression models for the association between immune status and VOC (Beta, Gamma or Delta over the Alpha variant). Logistic regression models are adjusted for week of sampling, sex and 10-year age group. Error bars correspond to the 95% confidence intervals.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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