Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

June 7, 2021

Adverse Outcomes Associated with SARS-CoV-2 Variant B.1.351 Infection in Vaccinated Residents of a Long Term Care Home, Ontario, Canada

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  • Over a period of 3 weeks, an outbreak at a long-term care facility in Ontario, Canada likely originating from an unvaccinated staff member infected with the B.1.351 variant sickened 4 staff members (2 fully vaccinated, 1 single dose, one unvaccinated) and 9 fully vaccinated residents. Two unvaccinated staff members had infections due to other variants (one B.1.1.7, and one B.1.617.2) and 3 (1 fully vaccinated, 2 single dose) had positive tests with concentrations too low to identify lineage. Genomic analysis revealed that all B.1.351 genomes were highly related. 138 of 139 residents were fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine, with doses received between January 9th and March 18th, 2021. Of 243 staff, 204 (84%) received at least one dose of an mRNA vaccine (122 fully vaccinated, and 82 with second dose delayed as per Canadian vaccination strategy). 

Vanker et al. (June 6, 2021). Adverse Outcomes Associated with SARS-CoV-2 Variant B.1.351 Infection in Vaccinated Residents of a Long Term Care Home, Ontario, Canada. Clinical Infectious Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciab523