Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 genetic evolution in vaccinated and non-vaccinated patients from the Kenyan population

Abstract Vaccination is a key control measure of COVID-19 by preventing severe effects of disease outcomes, reducing hospitalization rates and death, and increasing herd immunity. However, vaccination can affect the evolution and adaptation of SARS-CoV-2, largely through vaccine-induced immune pressure. Here we investigated the recombination events and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on SARS-CoV-2 genome in non-vaccinated and vaccinated patients in the Kenyan population. We identified recombination hotspots in the S, N, and ORF1a/b genes and showed the genetic evolution landscape of SARS-CoV-2 by comparing within-wave and inter-wave recombination events from the beginning of the pandemic (June 2020) to (October 2022) in Kenya. An in-depth analysis of (SNPs) on the S, ORf1a/b, and N genes identified previously unreported mutations. We detected a minority variant in non-vaccinated patients in Kenya, that contained immune escape mutation S255F of the spike gene and showing a differential recombination pattern within the non-vaccinated patients. Detailed analysis of recombination between waves suggested an association between increased population immunity and declining risk of emergence of variants of concern. Overall, this work identified unique mutations in SARS-CoV-2 which could have significant implications for virus evolution, virulence, and immune escape.