Coronavirus cases among health care workers have declined sharply after workers received the first dose of vaccine, two new studies have found.
In one study of staff at Southwestern Texas University Medical Center, 2.6 percent of all employees who were unvaccinated positive for COVID-19 compared with 1.82 percent of those who received their first sighting, reported a fall of 31 percent.
That same study also found that only 0.05 percent of those who received both doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine or Modena vaccine subsequently.
In another study of frontline workers in California, only 0.13 percent contracted the virus, known as SARS-CoV-2, after receiving the vaccine.
‘Right now, as the weeks go by, we are increasingly seeing that these vaccines are not only effective but, in the community, they are very effective in ‘preventing infection with SARS-CoV-2,’ said Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top. an infectious disease expert said, at a news conference Wednesday.
‘It is a real testament to the importance of vaccinatio .;
Only 0.05% of staff at Southwestern Texas University who received both doses of either the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine or the subsequent Modena vaccine were positive for COVID-19
Data showed that, from 9 January onwards (blue line), the number of positive tests among UTSW staff was lower than the number projected without vaccination (black line)
For the first study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, a team from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW), in Dallas, looked at vaccines among their frontline staff.
Data was available for over 23,300 employees eligible for the vaccine between 15 December 2020 and 28 January 2021.
A total of 59 percent received at least a dose of the Pfizer vaccine in that period and 30 percent received both doses.
During that month and a half, 320 eligible employees, 1.5 percent, tested positive for coronavirus.
Approximately 2.6 percent of the group were non-infectious. This fell to 1.82 per cent among the group that received a single dose.
However, of those who received full vaccination only four out of more than 8,100 were infected, representing just 0.05 per cent of the group.
Moreover, from January 9 onwards, the number of positive tests among UTSW workers was lower than the number assessed without vaccines.
The impact of vaccination on the retention of our workers has been remarkable. We have seen a reduction of more than 90 per cent in the number of workers who are alone or in quarantine, ‘the authors wrote.
Real-world experience with UTSW’s SARS-CoV-2 vaccine has shown a dramatic reduction in the incidence of infections among workers. This reduction retained staff when needed. ‘
In the second study, also published in the New England Journal of Medicine, a group of researchers in California looked at vaccine health care workers in the state.
In a second study, only 0.13% of frontline workers in California received a full positive vaccine for coronavirus. Pictured: Frontline medical staff will receive Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19 at Virginia Hospital Center, December 2020
To date, 83.9 million Americans – 25.3% of the population – have received at least one dose and 45.5 million – 13.7% – are fully vaccinated
Data were available for employees at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) between December 16, 2020 and February 9, 2021.
More than 36,600 front – line workers received either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, and more than 28,184 – 77 per cent – received the second dose.
Among the staff who received the vaccine, 379 people tested positive for the virus at least one day after receiving the first dose.
About 0.9 percent of people who get a single dose had the infection, and most of the infections occurred within the first week, making them appear to be infected with the virus. already received before receiving the vaccine.
Thirty-seven people were infected with COVID-19 after the second dose, resulting in only 0.13 percent of the full-blown patients being ill.
Moreover, after two weeks, the average time it takes for the virus to pick up antibodies, only seven of the whole vaccine group tested positive.
‘The scarcity of diagnostic test results 14 days after administration of the second dose of the vaccine is encouraging and suggests that the effectiveness of these vaccines is maintained outside the test setting,’ the authors wrote.
‘These data reinforce the importance of public health mitigation measures (shelter, physical pace, daily symptom screening, and regular testing), even in highly vaccinated environments, to achieve general herd immunity.’
To date, 83.9 million Americans – 25.3 percent of the population – have received at least one dose and 45.5 million – 13.7 percent – are fully vaccinated.
