Not a single vaccinated doctor who contracted COVID-19 was hospitalized or died.
Infections among healthcare professionals fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are extremely rare, according to a new study.
Researchers examined data from employee health records of more than 36,600 health professionals in California and found that less than 1% tested positive for COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated – that is, both doses plus two weeks for immunity increase – Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
Although anecdotal reports of individual doctors receiving COVID-19 after receiving one or both doses of the vaccine have been covered in the news recently, the study offers a more comprehensive view of how often these post-vaccination infections occur in fully vaccinated people.
“This study confirms that vaccines are highly effective in preventing COVID-19,” the study’s authors, Dr. Shira Abeles and Dr. Francesca Torriani, told ABC News.
“It also serves as a reminder that vaccines are not 100% effective and there are ‘innovative’ cases,” added the doctors, noting that public health measures need to remain in place to protect against isolated cases.
They also pointed to a reason for optimism. “Vaccines showed great effectiveness during a sudden increase in cases in Southern California, which is great news for all of us,” said Abeles and Torriani, both working at UC San Diego Health.
The study period lasted from December 16, 2020, when the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) started their vaccination programs, until February 9, 2021.
After complete vaccination, the risk of a positive test for the virus was 1.19% among UCSD employees and 0.97% among UCLA employees.
The research also showed that the more advanced the vaccination process of health professionals, the better the vaccine worked.
Of the 36,659 vaccinated workers, 379 tested positive after the first dose of the vaccine, with the majority of these individuals testing positive within two weeks of their first injection. After receiving two doses of the double vaccine, 37 people tested positive, with the majority showing positive results less than a week after the second dose. Only seven health professionals tested positive 15 days or more after the second vaccination.
No vaccinated health worker who contracted COVID-19 was hospitalized or died and those who fell ill appeared to have milder symptoms than those not vaccinated, according to the researchers.
“We hope this will help increase confidence in the vaccine,” said Abeles and Torriani.
There were limitations to the research. Healthcare professionals who test positive after a dose may have been exposed to the virus before being vaccinated. It is also not known which variants of the virus circulated during the study period. The research was published in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine on Tuesday.