Background: Estimating vaccine effectiveness (VE) against severe, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among healthcare workers (HCWs) is necessary to demonstrate protection from the disease. Between 24 December 2020 and 15 June 2021, we determined the factors associated with vaccine coverage and estimated VE against SARS-CoV-2 infection in HCWs at a secondary hospital in Kuwait.
Methods: We extracted sociodemographic, occupational, SARS-CoV-2 infection, and vaccination data for eligible HCWs from the hospital records. Vaccine coverage percentages were cross-tabulated with the HCW factors. Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios in vaccinated versus unvaccinated.
Results: 3246 HCWs were included in the analysis, of which 82.1% received at least one vaccine dose (50.4% only one dose of ChAdOx1, 3.3% only one dose of BNT162b2, and 28.3% two doses of BNT162b2). However, 17.9% of HCWs were unvaccinated. A significantly lower vaccination coverage was reported amongst female HCWs, younger age group (20-30 years), and administrative/executive staff. The adjusted VE of fully vaccinated HCWs was 94.5% (95% CI = 89.4-97.2%), while it was 75.4% (95% CI = 67.2-81.6%) and 91.4% (95% CI = 65.1-97.9%) in partially vaccinated for ChAdOx1 and BNT162b2, respectively.
Conclusions: BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1 vaccines prevented most symptomatic infections in HCWs across age groups, nationalities, and occupations.
Keywords: Middle East; coronavirus disease; healthcare professionals; infectious diseases; public health; vaccine effectiveness.