The CDC released the study yesterday: COVID-19 Outbreak Associated with a SARS-CoV-2 R.1 Lineage Variant in a Skilled Nursing Facility After Vaccination Program — Kentucky, March 2021
Then one of my favorite sources for COVID-related information, Your Local Epidemiologist (Katelyn Jetelina) broke it down for us in easily understandable terms: Outbreak after a vaccination campaign in Kentucky — And what we can learn from it.
Here’s the story.
A skilled nursing facility in Kentucky offered 3 vaccination clinics for staff and residents in January and February 2021. They succeeded in vaccinating 90.4% of residents and 52.6% of staff; however, many staff members and a few of the residents refused the vaccine after being offered multiple opportunities.
On March 1, an unvaccinated, COVID-infected, symptomatic staff member came to work, and an outbreak was soon in progress. The facility started testing everyone with rapid antigen tests as soon as they figured out an outbreak was underway.
When the outbreak subsided, the vaccine had done impressive (though not flawless) work, and the consequence of NOT vaccinating was heartbreaking:
- Attack rates were three to four times lower (25% vs. 75% among residents; 7% vs. 30% among staff)
- Symptom rates were lower (33% vs. 83% among residents; 50% vs. 94% among staff
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Hospitalization rates were lower (3% vs. 50% among residents, no staff were hospitalized)
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Death rates were lower (1.4% vs. 25% among residents; no staff died)
Out of 8 unvaccinated residents, 6 were infected, 4 were hospitalized, 2 died.
Out of 71 vaccinated residents, 18 were infected, 2 were hospitalized, 1 died.
The virus turned out to be a particularly nasty variant, but even so the vaccine (Pfizer in this case) gave pretty impressive protection.
I’ll let Your Local Epidemiologist have the last word:
Your decision to not get a vaccine has direct implications on others, even among those already vaccinated. Get. that. vaccine.