Reducing the rates of household transmission: The impact of COVID-19 vaccination in healthcare workers with a known household exposure

• Published in: Vaccine Vol. 40; no. 9; pp. 1213 - 1214
• Main Authors: Passaretti, Catherine L., Priem, Jennifer S., Agner, Tammie G., McCurdy, Lewis
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 23.02.2022; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 Vaccines; Disease transmission; Exposure; Health care; Health Personnel; Healthcare workers; Household transmission; Households; Humans; Immunization; Infections; Medical personnel; mRNA vaccine; Occupational exposure; Pandemics; Risk management; SARS-CoV-2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Short Communication; Vaccination; Viral diseases; COVID-19; Healthcare workers; HCW; Household transmission; mRNA vaccine
• ISSN: 0264-410X; 1873-2518
• DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.01.020

•Unvaccinated had 667% higher risk of infection from household transmission than fully vaccinated.•Only 50% of vaccinated healthcare workers who were COVID-positive were symptomatic.•Vaccine provides two modes of protection: decreased infection and symptomatic infection. To determine the impact of COVID-19 vaccination oninfectionratesin healthcare workers(HCWs) with a householdexposure. Retrospectivecohort study8410HCWs(400 fullyvaccinated, 1645partially vaccinated,6365 unvaccinated),employed by a large integrated healthcare system in the southeastern United States,tested for SARS-CoV-2between January 1 and February 26, 2021. Benefit of vaccination persisted even with household exposure, with unvaccinated HCWs being 3.7 to 7.7 times more likely to be infected than partially or fully vaccinated HCW with positive household contacts respectively (partial OR = 3.73, 95% CI 2.17 – 6.47; full OR = 7.67, CI 2.75 – 21.35). Whereas 89.4% of unvaccinated COVID-positive HCWs with known household exposures were symptomatic, 50% of fully vaccinated HCWs had symptoms, reducing risk of secondary spread from and between HCWs. COVID-19vaccinationprovided protection against infection evenamongst healthcare workerswithclose household contact,and after adjusting for community prevalence.