SARS-CoV-2 variants offer a second chance to fix vaccine inequities

Abstract

Global COVID-19 vaccine equity remains aspirational for much of the world. But the emergence of rapidly evolving SARS-CoV-2 variants provides new opportunities to correct past public policies, support local vaccine production and combat rising anti-vaccine aggression.

Bivalent mRNA vaccine improves antibody-mediated neutralization of many SARS-CoV-2 Omicron lineage variants

“…BA.2 spawned the BA.2.75 lineage which evolved into BA.2.75.2 and BN.1. BA.2.75 underwent a recombination event with BJ.1 (a descendant of BA.2.10) to form the XBB and XBB.1 recombinant lineages 9 , which predominated in Singapore 10 and are also increasing in the U.S. BA.5 was also derived from BA.2, and its descendant lineages, BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, were the predominant lineages in the U.S. in November and December 2022. While the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 RNA virus genome is complex, the spike proteins encoded by these Omicron lineage viruses are fairly closely related with the XBB.1 virus being the most divergent (Supplementary Fig.…”

“…BA.2 spawned the BA.2.75 lineage which evolved into BA.2.75.2 and BN.1. BA.2.75 underwent a recombination event with BJ.1 (a descendant of BA.2.10) to form the XBB and XBB.1 recombinant lineages 9 , which predominated in Singapore 10 and are also increasing in the U.S. BA.5 was also derived from BA.2, and its descendant lineages, BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, were the predominant lineages in the U.S. in November and December 2022.…”

Intranasal administration of adenoviral vaccines expressing SARS-CoV-2 spike protein improves vaccine immunity in mouse models

“…Also, for economic reasons and due to logistic challenges associated with mRNA vaccine technology, the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines currently in clinical use have mainly been distributed in developed countries, leaving many people in the developing world unprotected from COVID-19. This failure is permissive to excess mortality, as well as the emergence and rapid dissemination of new SARS-CoV-2 variants that evade acquired SARS-CoV-2 immunity [6] , [7] .…”

XBB.1.5 emerges in the Americas: what it means to the region

“…If confirmed that the recently released bivalent booster directed versus BA.4/5 elicits some cross-protection than it is imperative that we make it available for the entire Western Hemisphere. 11 Alternatively, our Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, which made available a unique low-cost and patent-free recombinant protein COVID-19 vaccine technology for India, Indonesia, and elsewhere, is now preparing a BA.4/5 version for inclusion in a bivalent recombinant protein vaccine for use globally. Still another option is to quickly pivot and prepare an XBB.1.5-specific mRNA or recombinant protein for administration—possibly as a trivalent vaccine along with the vaccines to the original lineage and BA.4/BA.5—for the Western Hemisphere.…”