An Unvaccinated Nursing Home Employee Set Off a COVID-19 Outbreak Among the Residents

An Unvaccinated Nursing Home Employee Set Off a COVID-19 Outbreak Among the Residents

by Sue Jones
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Public health officials traced a COVID-19 outbreak at a nursing home in Kentucky back to one unvaccinated health care professional at the facility, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But because most residents were vaccinated, few of them were infected—and even fewer developed symptoms, the CDC said.

The COVID-19 outbreak occurred at a skilled-nursing facility in early March after routine testing identified a positive case in an unvaccinated health care professional who worked at the facility. At that point, 75 of the 83 residents (90%) and 61 of the 116 health care personnel on staff (53%) had received both doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. But a few people of them were not fully vaccinated at the time of the outbreak because it had not been two weeks since their second dose.

Eventually, 26 residents (18 of whom had received both vaccine doses) and 20 health care employees (including 4 who had received both doses) at the facility received a positive COVID-19 test. Of the infected residents, 11 developed symptoms, six were hospitalized, and three died. Of the staff members, 17 developed symptoms but none were hospitalized or died.

Of course, a COVID-19 outbreak is not good news, especially among a vulnerable population like nursing facility residents. But despite the three deaths, this study actually provides some pretty encouraging findings. For one thing, among these cases, the vaccine showed about 87% efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19 infections. Among residents, the vaccine also showed 94% efficacy against hospitalization.

These are especially encouraging figures because the coronavirus strain identified in this outbreak contained a worrying mutation: E484K, which affects the way the virus’s spike protein infects human cells. This mutation was previously detected in the variants originally found in South Africa and the U.K. There is some evidence from lab studies that suggests the vaccines are less effective against strains with this mutation. But this CDC report provides reassuring real-world evidence that the vaccines can still provide significant protection against severe illness, hospitalization, and death due to COVID-19—even against such variants.

In the facility in this study, all residents and staff had been offered vaccines before the outbreak occurred. So this new study underscores how risky it can be when staff in these facilities opt not to get the vaccine for themselves and the vulnerable people around them. 

The study is also a reminder that it’s possible, although rare, to get COVID-19 even if you’ve been fully vaccinated. That’s why it’s so crucial to keep reinforcing the message that other safety precautions are still necessary post-vaccination (such as wearing face masks, social distancing, and frequent hand washing). And that’s especially true among people that are more likely to develop severe COVID-19 consequences due to their age or other underlying risk factors.

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