April 1, 2021

COVID-19 Vaccine Impact on Rates of SARS-CoV-2 Cases and Post Vaccination Strain Sequences among Healthcare Workers at an Urban Academic Medical Center a Prospective Cohort Study

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Vaccines and Immunity

Keywords (Tags): healthcare workers, vaccinations

• [Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Among a cohort of healthcare workers (HCW) from Boston Medical Center who received the first dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was 27% and 82% lower 1-14 days and >14 days after receiving the first dose, respectively, compared to surrounding community infection rates. SARS-CoV-2 infections occurred in 1.4% (96 of 7109) of HCWs given at least a first dose and 0.3% (17 of 5913) of HCWs given both doses. SARS-CoV-2 infections >14 days from the first dose were more frequently asymptomatic, among older HCWs, and HCWs of Latinx ethnicity. Analysis of 48 SARS-CoV-2 genomes sequenced from first-dose infections did not indicate selection pressure towards mutations in the spike protein known to escape antibody neutralization.

Bouton et al. (Mar 31, 2021). COVID-19 Vaccine Impact on Rates of SARS-CoV-2 Cases and Post Vaccination Strain Sequences among Healthcare Workers at an Urban Academic Medical Center a Prospective Cohort Study. Pre-print downloaded Apr 1 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.30.21254655