COVID-19 Infection in Vaccinated Healthcare Professionals

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There are different types of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines available presently, and their emergency use has been approved by WHO worldwide on a mass scale. COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough infections have been reported worldwide. In Pakistan, there are limited data on COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough infections and their clinical course, especially in healthcare professionals (HCPs). Our study aims to investigate COVID-19 infections among vaccinated HCPs. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted on 425 healthcare professionals. Data collected from healthcare professionals included names, age, gender, number of vaccination doses, COVID-19 infection pre and post-vaccination, the severity of COVID-19 infection (if positive), and co-morbid conditions. Ethical board approval was taken. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY) was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: After complete vaccination, 17.27% acquired COVID-19 infection; 2.47% had COVID-19 infection both pre and post-vaccination. The mean age was 32.46 years (n=71) with a standard deviation of ±9.376. The male to female ratio was 1.53. COVID-19 PCR was positive in 95.77%. During the course of the disease, 4.2% were asymptomatic, 92.95% had mild symptoms, 1.4% were hospitalized, and 1.4% had to be managed in the intensive care unit. None of the HCPs who had received booster doses acquired a COVID-19 infection. CONCLUSION: It was found that prior COVID-19 infection and vaccination do not confer immunity from infection. However, proper vaccination limits the severity, morbidity, and mortality of COVID-19 infection.