Fig. 6. Vaccination of Syrian hamsters with AZD2816 or AZD1222 reduces shedding by the Omicron VoC.

A Schematic overview of experiment. Hamsters were vaccinated with AZD1222, AZD2816, or ChAdOx1 GFP on day –28. Twenty-eight days post final vaccination, hamsters were challenged with 10³ TCID₅₀ of the Omicron or ancestral variant, via the intranasal route. Created with BioRender.com. B Boxplot of binding IgG antibody signal in hamster sera on day -14 against different SARS-CoV-2 S proteins. C Boxplot of virus neutralizing antibody titers in hamster sera obtained on day −14 against different ancestral virus or Omicron VoC. Statistical significance was determined via a Wilcoxon test. B, C Circles = hamsters vaccinated with AZD2816, squares =  hamsters vaccinated with AZD2816. D Relative weight in comparison to day 0. Dotted line = 100% relative weight. N = 8 (Days 1–3) or 4 (Days 4–5). E Boxplot of lung:body weight ratio. F Boxplot of gRNA (left panel) and infectious virus (right panel) in lung tissue harvested on days 3 and 5 (N = 4). Statistical significance was determined via a Kruskall-Wallis test followed by Dunn’s multiple comparisons test. Dotted line = limit of detection. G Boxplot of sgRNA (left panel) and infectious virus (right panel) in oropharyngeal swabs taken on day 1–3 (N = 8), and 4–5 (N = 4). Statistical significance was determined via a mixed-effects analysis followed by Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test, comparing vaccinated groups against control group. Dotted line = limit of detection. H Boxplot of the AUC analysis of shedding as measured by sgRNA analysis in swabs collected on 1–5 days post-inoculation. C–H Circles = hamsters challenged with Omicron, squares = hamsters challenged with ancestral variant. Statistical significance was determined via one-way ANOVA. N = 5. All boxplots are drawn from first quartile to third quartile, with a line at the median. Whiskers go from each quartile to minimum or maximum values. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.