Assessment of neutralizing antibody responses in adults after KP.2 vaccination shows varying effectiveness against emerging variants, indicating immune escape challenges.
The evolution of SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in antigenically distinct variants that challenge vaccine-induced immunity. The KP.2 monovalent mRNA vaccine was deployed in 2024 to address immune escape by emerging SARS-CoV-2 subvariants. We assessed neutralizing antibody responses in 56 adults with varied exposure histories following KP.2 vaccination against emerging variants including LP.8.1, LF.7.1, NB.1.8.1, XFG, and BA.3.2. While KP.2 vaccination enhanced neutralization against homologous variants, dramatic reductions in neutralizing activity were observed against FLiRT variants across all exposure groups. Critically, exposure history profoundly influenced neutralization breadth, with vaccination-only participants exhibiting superior cross-neutralization compared to individuals with hybrid immunity. Antigenic cartography revealed substantial antigenic distances between KP.2 and emerging variants, highlighting significant immune escape potential that threatens vaccine protection. Overall, our data suggest that KP.2 boosting predominantly enhances cross-reactive responses imprinted by previously encountered spike antigens, with limited adaptation to antigenically drifted variants.
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Abbad et al. (2025) studied this question.
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