Timely COVID-19 boosters may prevent care facility outbreaks rivm COVID19 coronavirus covid vaccine vaccination booster
By Dr. Liji Thomas, MDOct 11 2022Reviewed by Benedette Cuffari, M.Sc. The coronavirus disease 2019 , caused by infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 , frequently causes severe disease in the elderly and patients with certain comorbidities.
Introduction Elderly people residing in LTCFs are at high risk for severe COVID-19 due to shared living spaces that promote the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, low immunologic function, and coexisting illnesses such as dementia, heart disease, and chronic lung disease. LTCF residents are rarely brought to community testing centers for COVID-19 screening and are not frequently hospitalized.
This left residents at the other two housing estates, whereas the staff and individual housing facilities were relatively secluded from common facilities. Taken together, a total of 160 staff were working at the time of the outbreak, with 151 residents in total. Related StoriesAt this point, visits were prohibited, common areas closed, and other daily activities restricted. Booster vaccine doses were administered on December 6, 2021, to all ward patients and many in the adjacent housing estates who were still negative for COVID-19.
A total of 70 cases were reported among LTCF residents, with an overall attack rate of 67%. The initially affected ward had a much higher AR of 94%, followed by 80% for one somatic ward. The AR for the affected housing estate was 62%. Complete vaccination provided 17% protection against infection; however, it reduced mortality by 70% as compared to the unvaccinated. Thus, a third of unvaccinated cases ended in death as compared to 12% among the fully vaccinated.