SARS-CoV-2 501Y.V2 variants lack higher infectivity but do have immune escape

The SARS-CoV-2 South Africa 501Y.V2 variants contain multiple mutations in spike protein. By using VSV pseudotyped virus expressing SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, it was shown that although the South Africa-type mutations did not increase viral infectivity when it used the human ACE2 receptor, an enhanced affinity for mouse ACE2 receptor was obtained. Moreover, it was clear that these variants acquired the resistant against several neutralizing antibodies.