The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants have recently emerged, with BA.5 becoming the dominant circulating strain in many countries. Both variants share the same Spike glycoprotein sequence which contains a large number of mutations, raising concerns about vaccine efficacy. In this study, we evaluated the ability of plasma from a cohort of individuals that received three doses of mRNA vaccine to recognize and neutralize the BA.4/5 Spike. We observed that BA.4/5 Spike is markedly less recognized and neutralized compared to the D614G and Omicron BA.2 Spike variants. Individuals who have been infected before or after vaccination present better humoral responses than SARS-CoV-2 naive vaccinated individuals, thus indicating that hybrid immunity generates better humoral responses against this subvariant.
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