Vaccination Hesitancy among Health-Care-Workers in Academic Hospitals Is Associated with a 12-Fold Increase in the Risk of COVID-19 Infection: A Nine-Month Greek Cohort Study

Viruses. 2021 Dec 24;14(1):26. doi: 10.3390/v14010026.

Abstract

Health-Care-Workers (HCWs) are considered at high risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection. We sought to compare rates and severity of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among vaccinated and unvaccinated HCWs conducting a retrospective cohort study in two tertiary Academic Hospitals, namely Laiko and Attikon, in Athens, Greece. Vaccinated by BNT162b2 Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine and unvaccinated HCWs were included and data were collected between 1 January 2021 and 15 September 2021. Overall, 2921 of 3219 HCWs without a history of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection were fully vaccinated during the study period (90.7% at each Hospital). Demographic characteristics were comparable between 102/2921 (3.5%) vaccinated and 88/298 (29.5%) unvaccinated HCWs with COVID-19, although age and occupation differed significantly. None were in need of hospital admission in the vaccinated Group, whereas in the unvaccinated Group 4/88 (4.5%) were hospitalized and one (1.1%) died. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that lack of vaccination was an independent risk factor for COVID-19 with an odds ratio 11.54 (95% CI: 10.75-12.40). Vaccination hesitancy among HCWs resulted to highly increased COVID-19 rates; almost one in three unvaccinated HCWs was SARS-CoV-2 infected during the 9-month period. The absolute need of vaccination of HCWs, including boosting dose, is highlighted. Evidence should be used appropriately to overcome any hesitancy.

Keywords: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); Health-Care-Workers (HCWs); hesitancy; infection rate; vaccine.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • BNT162 Vaccine / administration & dosage
  • COVID-19 / epidemiology*
  • COVID-19 / prevention & control
  • Female
  • Greece / epidemiology
  • Health Personnel / statistics & numerical data*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Risk
  • SARS-CoV-2 / immunology
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Tertiary Care Centers
  • Vaccination / statistics & numerical data
  • Vaccination Hesitancy / statistics & numerical data*

Substances

  • BNT162 Vaccine