Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccine Effectiveness Against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection in the United States Before the Delta- and Omicron-Associated Surges: A Retrospective Cohort Study of Repeat Blood Donors

Eduard Grebe; Elaine A Yu; Marjorie D Bravo; Alex Welte; Roberta L Bruhn; Mars Stone; Valerie Green; Phillip C Williamson; Leora R Feldstein; Jefferson M Jones; Michael P Busch; Brian Custer

doi:10.1093/infdis/jiac318

Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccine Effectiveness Against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection in the United States Before the Delta- and Omicron-Associated Surges: A Retrospective Cohort Study of Repeat Blood Donors

J Infect Dis. 2022 Nov 1;226(9):1556-1561. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiac318.

Authors

Eduard Grebe^{1

2

3}, Elaine A Yu¹, Marjorie D Bravo⁴, Alex Welte³, Roberta L Bruhn^{1

2}, Mars Stone^{1

2}, Valerie Green⁵, Phillip C Williamson⁵, Leora R Feldstein⁶, Jefferson M Jones⁶, Michael P Busch^{1

2}, Brian Custer^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Vitalant Research Institute, San Francisco, California, USA.
² University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
³ South African DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (SACEMA), Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
⁴ Corporate Medical Affairs, Vitalant, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA.
⁵ Creative Testing Solutions, Tempe, Arizona, USA.
⁶ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Abstract

Background: To inform public health policy, it is critical to monitor coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine effectiveness (VE), including against acquiring infection.

Methods: We estimated VE using self-reported vaccination in a retrospective cohort of repeat blood donors who donated during the first half of 2021, and we demonstrated a viable approach for monitoring VE via serological surveillance.

Results: Using Poisson regression, we estimated an overall VE of 88.8% (95% confidence interval, 86.2-91.1), adjusted for demographic covariates and variable baseline risk.

Conclusions: The time since first reporting vaccination, age, race and/or ethnicity, region, and calendar time were statistically significant predictors of incident infection.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; blood donors; vaccine effectiveness; vaccines.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Blood Donors
COVID-19 Vaccines*
COVID-19*
Cohort Studies
Humans
Retrospective Studies
United States
Vaccine Efficacy

Substances

COVID-19 Vaccines