Cited by 718SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 ResearchCOVID-19 Clinical Research StudiesCOVID-19 epidemiological studies

Vaccine Breakthrough Infections with SARS-CoV-2 Variants

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Hacisuleyman, Ezgi, Hale, Caryn, Saito, Yuhki, Blachere, Nathalie E., Bergh, Marissa, Conlon, Erin G., Schaefer-Babajew, Dennis J., DaSilva, Justin +7 more·2021·New England Journal of Medicine

Abstract

Emerging variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are of clinical concern. In a cohort of 417 persons who had received the second dose of BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) or mRNA-1273 (Moderna) vaccine at least 2 weeks previously, we identified 2 women with vaccine breakthrough infection. Despite evidence of vaccine efficacy in both women, symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 developed, and they tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by polymerase-chain-reaction testing. Viral sequencing revealed variants of likely clinical importance, including E484K in 1 woman and three mutations (T95I, del142-144, and D614G) in both. These observations indicate a potential risk of illness after successful vaccination and subsequent infection with variant virus, and they provide support for continued efforts to prevent and diagnose infection and to characterize variants in vaccinated persons. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and others.).

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  • Breakthrough infections have emerged in a small percentage of vaccine recipients in other countries and health care institutions.

    “However, breakthrough infections have emerged in a small percentage of vaccine recipients, a phenomenon that has been described in other countries and health care institutions.6-8”
  • Reports have been published in which certain variants of concern were more prevalent in breakthrough infections.

    “In contrast, reports in which certain variants of concern were more prevalent in breakthrough infections have been published as well.8,16,26”

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Authors
Hacisuleyman, E., Hale, C., Saito, Y., Blachere, N. E., Bergh, M., Conlon, E. G., Schaefer-Babajew, D. J., DaSilva, J., Muecksch, F., Gaebler, C., Lifton, R., Nussenzweig, M. C., Hatziioannou, T., Bieniasz, P. D., & Darnell, R. B.
Affiliations
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
  • From the Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-oncology (E.H., C.H., Y.S., N.E.B., M.B., E.G.C., R.B.D.), the Laboratory of Molecular Immunology (D.J.S.-B., C.G., M.C.N.), the Laboratory of Human Genetics and Genomics (R.L.), the Laboratory of Retrovirology (J.D., F.M., T.H., P.D.B.), and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (M.C.N., P.D.B., R.B.D.), Rockefeller University, New York.
Corresponding author
Darnell, Robert B.
Venue
New England Journal of Medicine
Published
2021-06-10
Volume
384
Issue
23
Pages
2212-2218
ISSN
  • 0028-4793 (ISSN-L)
  • 1533-4406
OpenAlex
W3153636933
Cited by
716
References
11
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 42 · 2023: 102 · 2022: 298 · 2021: 239 · 2020: 1
FWCI
54.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • New England Journal of Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Modeling and Simulation › COVID-19 epidemiological studies
Keywords
SARS-CoV-2 variants, breakthrough infection, COVID-19 vaccination, BNT162b2, mRNA-1273, E484K mutation, D614G mutation, viral genome sequencing, vaccine efficacy
MeSH terms
COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 Vaccines, BNT162 Vaccine, 2019-nCoV Vaccine mRNA-1273, Aged, Antibodies, Viral, Female, Humans, Middle Aged, Mutation, Neutralization Tests, Phylogeny, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Sequence Analysis, RNA, Viral Load, Antibodies, Neutralizing, Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus

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