Article Summary
April 26, 2021
Simulated Identification of Silent COVID-19 Infections Among Children and Estimated Future Infection Rates With Vaccination
A modeling study determined that, in the absence of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines available to children, identifying 10-20% of “silent” or asymptomatic infections among children within 3 days after infection would reduce attack rates below 5% if only adults were vaccinated. Using an age-structured disease transmission model parameterized with census data, the study also found that if…
Interim Findings from First-Dose Mass COVID-19 Vaccination Roll-out and COVID-19 Hospital Admissions in Scotland: A National Prospective Cohort Study
Between December 8, 2020, and February 22, 2021, receipt of the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in Scotland was associated with a vaccine effectiveness of 91% for reduced COVID-19 hospital admission at 28–34 days post-vaccination, and 88% for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Over the study period, a total of 1,331,993 individuals who had not previously…
Re-Infection with SARS-CoV-2 in Patients Undergoing Serial Laboratory Testing
A low frequency of SARS-CoV-2 re-infection (0.7%) was identified in a large cohort of patients (n = 9,119) who received serial tests at 62 health care facilities in the United States between December 1, 2019 and November 13, 2020. Re-infection was defined as two positive tests separated by an interval of more than 90 days…
Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis (CVST) Is Not Significantly Linked to COVID-19 Vaccines or Non-COVID Vaccines in a Large Multi-State US Health System
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), which occurs when a blood clot prevents blood from properly flowing out of the brain, was rare and not significantly associated with COVID-19 vaccines in a study conducted among individuals who received the Pfizer-BioNTech (n = 94,818 doses), Moderna (n = 36,350 doses) and Johnson & Johnson…
BNT162b2 Vaccination Effectively Prevents the Rapid Rise of SARS-CoV-2 Variant B.1.1.7 in High Risk Populations in Israel
The SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant was 45% more transmissible than the original strain in Israel, and was identified in more than 90% of positive tests by February 4th, according to an analysis of nearly 300,000 RT-PCR samples collected between December 6, 2020 and February 10, 2021. The authors note that surveillance programs and prioritized vaccination, which…
First Dose of BNT162b2 MRNA Vaccine in a Health Care Worker Cohort Is Associated with Reduced Symptomatic and Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Among healthcare workers at a hospital in the UK, increased coverage (8.3% to 82.5%) of at least one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination was associated with significant reductions in symptomatic and asymptomatic cases of SARS-CoV-2. There was a significant negative correlation between cumulative vaccination and PCR positive cases (R = -0.91), along with a marked…
COVID-19 Vaccine Coverage in Health-Care Workers in England and Effectiveness of BNT162b2 MRNA Vaccine against Infection (SIREN): A Prospective, Multicentre, Cohort Study
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine showed 70% effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 infection 21 days after the first dose, and 85% effectiveness 7 days after two doses among staff working in publicly-funded hospitals in the UK. Participants were followed for two months, for a total of 1,106,905 person-days. During follow-up, 977 new infections occurred among unvaccinated individuals (14 per…
Protection of Previous SARS-CoV-2 Infection Is Similar to That of BNT162b2 Vaccine Protection A Three-Month Nationwide Experience from Israel
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A population-based study in Israel found that the level of protection against reinfection conferred by prior infection with SARS-CoV-2 within the last 6 months was similar to that elicited by the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine among people who had no prior infection. Vaccine effectiveness against severe disease was 66% for individuals followed from the…
Asymptomatic and Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infections Elicit Polyfunctional Antibodies
Cellular assays evaluating antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) combined with assessments of antibody titers and neutralization activity indicated that asymptomatic infection with SARS-CoV-2 induces a polyfunctional antibody response. In this study, antibody responses were slightly lower among asymptomatic than symptomatic individuals, but did not differ in neutralization activity or the ability to trigger ADCC and complement…
Maternal and Child Outcomes Reported by Breastfeeding Women Following MRNA COVID-19 Vaccination
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Among individuals who were breastfeeding and received an mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (n = 180, 71% Pfizer-BioNTech, 29% Moderna), >85% reported experiencing side effects following either dose. Those who received the Moderna vaccine were significantly more likely to report systemic side effects after the second dose like fever, chills, and vomiting, in addition…
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