Vaccination and Factors Related to the Clinical Outcome of COVID-19 in Healthcare Workers—A Romanian Front-Line Hospital’s Experience

Abstract

The study aims to describe the frequency of COVID-19 in healthcare workers (HCWs) in a designated hospital for COVID-19 treatment in Bucharest, Romania, and to explore COVID-19 vaccination and other factors associated with the clinical outcome. We actively surveyed all HCWs from 26 February 2020 to 31 December 2021. Cases were laboratory-confirmed with RT-PCR or rapid test antigen. Epidemiological, demographic, clinical outcomes, vaccination status, and co-morbidities data were collected. Data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel, SPSS, and MedCalc. A total of 490 cases of COVID-19 in HCWs were diagnosed. The comparison groups were related to the severity of the clinical outcome: the non-severe group (279, 64.65%) included mild and asymptomatic cases, and the potentially severe group included moderate and severe cases. Significant differences between groups were registered for high-risk departments (p = 0.0003), exposure to COVID-19 patients (p = 0.0003, vaccination (p = 0.0003), and the presence of co-morbidities (p < 0.0001). Age, obesity, anemia, and exposure to COVID-19 patients predicted the severity of the clinical outcomes (χ2 (4, n = 425) = 65.69, p < 0.001). The strongest predictors were anemia and obesity (OR 5.82 and 4.94, respectively). In HCWs, mild COVID-19 cases were more frequent than severe cases. Vaccination history, exposure, and individual risk influenced the clinical outcome suggesting that measures to protect HCWs and occupational medicine are important for pandemic preparedness.