Experience of COVID-19 Vaccination of Healthcare Workers in a Hospital Setting

Abstract Introduction Several COVID-19 vaccines against SAR-CoV-2 have demonstrated high efficacy in clinical trials. This is the first report describing their use in a healthcare setting.Methods We conduct a single centre observational study assessing vaccine uptake and apparent efficacy of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine among healthcare workers (HCW). Results Overall uptake was 60.8%, however we saw statistically significant differences in uptake between age groups, ethnic origins, and job roles. In the 42 days after vaccination, 45 new cases of COVID were identified, of which 4 (8.9%) occurred in HCWs who were beyond 10 days of vaccination. Kaplan Meier curves for vaccinated and unvaccinated groups were congruent until day 14 and continued to diverge up to 42 days. Cox regression analysis showed a 79.0% (95%CI 21 – 95; p=0.02) risk reduction for COVID infection in vaccinated HCWs. Conclusions Initial vaccination rates among HCW were generally good, although uptake was lower in certain groups and efforts should focus on increasing uptake in these groups. The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine is effective from 14 days post-vaccination in a frontline clinical setting and protection continues beyond 21 days post 1st dose without a 2nd dose, being given.