TY - JOUR
T1 - Real-world impact of vaccination on COVID-19 incidence in health care personnel at an academic medical center
AU - Waldman, Sarah E.
AU - Adams, Jason Y.
AU - Albertson, Timothy E.
AU - Juárez, Maya M.
AU - Myers, Sharon L.
AU - Atreja, Ashish
AU - Batra, Sumeet
AU - Foster, Elena E.
AU - Huynh, Cy V.
AU - Liu, Anna Y.
AU - Lubarsky, David A.
AU - Ngo, Victoria T.
AU - Sandrock, Christian E.
AU - Taylor, Sandra L.
AU - Tompkins, Ann M.
AU - Cohen, Stuart H.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Objective: COVID-19 vaccination effectiveness in healthcare personnel (HCP) has been established, however, questions remain about its performance in high-risk healthcare occupations and work locations. We describe the effect of a COVID-19 HCP vaccination campaign on SARS-CoV-2 infection by timing of vaccination, job type, and work location. Methods: A retrospective review of COVID-19 vaccination acceptance, incidence of post-vaccination COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and mortality among 16,156 faculty, students, and staff at a large academic medical center was conducted. Data were collected 8 weeks prior to the start of Phase 1a vaccination of frontline employees and ended 11 weeks after campaign completion. Results: COVID-19 employee incidence rate at our institution decreased from 3.2% during the 8 weeks prior to the start of vaccinations to 0.38% by four weeks after campaign initiation. SARS-CoV-2 infection risk was reduced among individuals receiving a single vaccination (HR = 0.52 [0.40, 0.68], p<0.0001) and further reduced with 2 doses of vaccine (HR = 0.17 [0.09, 0.32], p<0.0001). By two weeks after the second dose, the observed case positivity rate was 0.04%. Among Phase 1a HCP, we observed a lower risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection among physicians and a trend toward higher risk for respiratory therapists independent of vaccination status. Rates of infection were similar in a sub-group of nurses when examined by work location. Conclusions: Our findings show the real-world effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination in HCP. Despite these encouraging results, unvaccinated HCP remain at an elevated risk of infection highlighting the need for targeted outreach to combat vaccine hesitancy.
AB - Objective: COVID-19 vaccination effectiveness in healthcare personnel (HCP) has been established, however, questions remain about its performance in high-risk healthcare occupations and work locations. We describe the effect of a COVID-19 HCP vaccination campaign on SARS-CoV-2 infection by timing of vaccination, job type, and work location. Methods: A retrospective review of COVID-19 vaccination acceptance, incidence of post-vaccination COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and mortality among 16,156 faculty, students, and staff at a large academic medical center was conducted. Data were collected 8 weeks prior to the start of Phase 1a vaccination of frontline employees and ended 11 weeks after campaign completion. Results: COVID-19 employee incidence rate at our institution decreased from 3.2% during the 8 weeks prior to the start of vaccinations to 0.38% by four weeks after campaign initiation. SARS-CoV-2 infection risk was reduced among individuals receiving a single vaccination (HR = 0.52 [0.40, 0.68], p<0.0001) and further reduced with 2 doses of vaccine (HR = 0.17 [0.09, 0.32], p<0.0001). By two weeks after the second dose, the observed case positivity rate was 0.04%. Among Phase 1a HCP, we observed a lower risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection among physicians and a trend toward higher risk for respiratory therapists independent of vaccination status. Rates of infection were similar in a sub-group of nurses when examined by work location. Conclusions: Our findings show the real-world effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination in HCP. Despite these encouraging results, unvaccinated HCP remain at an elevated risk of infection highlighting the need for targeted outreach to combat vaccine hesitancy.
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U2 - 10.1017/ice.2021.336
DO - 10.1017/ice.2021.336
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85111137138
JO - Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
JF - Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
SN - 0899-823X
ER -