The COVID variant is spreading in a U.S. nursing home despite vaccination

Cases of COVID-19 exploded in March in a nursing home in the United States where more than 90% of its population was vaccinated, after the introduction of a variant by a non-immune member, a study by the main US Public Health Agency and published on Wednesday revealed.

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Then the virus spread to this facility in Kentucky, and infected 44 people, including 24 residents and 20 nursing staff, including 18 and 4, respectively, who had received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, according to this study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Control (CDC).

So this work shows the limits of vaccination as the only strategy to fight COVID-19, particularly against its variants.

Although “necessary”, it should be accompanied by “a constant interest in infection prevention and control practices,” as its authors assert, who cite hand washing, constant examination to identify cases, isolate infected people and quarantine contact cases, “regardless of vaccination. “.

The study also provides a fruitful comparison of the vulnerability of infected people, depending on whether or not they have been vaccinated.

Among the infected population, for example, only a third of those vaccinated have symptoms, compared to 83% of those who are unvaccinated. Only 11% of the vaccinated were hospitalized when this was the case for two thirds of the unvaccinated.

Finally, only one in 18 people who were vaccinated with the virus died. Of the unvaccinated, 6 in number, two lost their lives.

“To protect nursing home residents, it is essential that nursing staff, as well as residents, be vaccinated,” the study authors emphasized.