Finger stick blood test to assess post vaccination SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody response against variants

ABSTRACT

There is clinical need for a quantifiable point-of-care (PoC) SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody (nAb) test that is adaptable with the pandemics changing landscape. Here, we present a rapid and semi-quantitative nAb test that uses finger stick or venous blood to assess the nAb response of vaccinated population against wild-type, alpha, beta, gamma, and delta variant receptor binding domains. It captures a clinically relevant range of nAb levels, and effectively differentiates pre-vaccination, post 1st dose and post 2nd dose vaccination samples within 10 minutes. The data observed against alpha, beta, gamma, and delta variants agrees with published results evaluated in established serology tests. Finally, our test revealed a substantial reduction in nAb level for beta, gamma, and delta variants between early BNT162b2 vaccination group (within 3 months) and later vaccination group (post 3 months). This test is highly suited for PoC settings and provides an insightful nAb response in a post-vaccinated population.