1. Single-dose BNT162b2 vaccine protects against asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection
- Author
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Jones, Nick K, Rivett, Lucy, Seaman, Shaun, Samworth, Richard J, Warne, Ben, Workman, Chris, Ferris, Mark, Wright, Jo, Quinnell, Natalie, Shaw, Ashley, Cambridge COVID-19 Collaboration, Goodfellow, Ian G, Lehner, Paul J, Howes, Rob, Wright, Giles, Matheson, Nicholas J, Weekes, Michael P, Amory, Amy, Baker, Stephen, Bateman, Emma, Begum, Aklima, Begum, Moushima, Bradley, John, Brennan, Michael, Burn, Helen, Crofts, Caroline, Chaudhry, Afzal, Chaudhry, Yasmin, Cooper, Daniel J, Dawson, Sharon, Dougan, Gordon, Feather, Renny, Free, Louise, Friel, Katie, Gildea, Claire, Georgana, Iliana, Grimwade, Lizz, Gupta, Ravi, Hall, Susan, Hannan, Sophie, Hayes, James, Hosaja, Aleksandra, Hosmillo, Myra, Izuagbe, Rhys, Jahun, Aminu, James, Lidia, Jardin, Jill, Kingston, Nathalie, Lear, Sara, Lyons, Paul A, Maxwell, Patrick H, Mott, Sue, Mugavin, Sarah, Mwiya, Joyce, Peacock, Sharon, Nallattil, Ravi Prakash, Oloyede, Kazeem, Ouwehand, Willem H, Page, Elle, Perez, Marina, Raine, Tim, Routledge, Matthew, Saunders, Caroline, Smith, Kenneth GC, Sparkes, Dominic, Stafford, Maria, Summers, Charlotte, Tatsi, Despiona, Thaventhiran, James ED, Thomas Johnson, Sharon, Török, M Estée, Toshner, Mark, Turner, Lesley, Wall, Kate, Watson, Karis, Jones, Nick K [0000-0003-4475-7761], Rivett, Lucy [0000-0002-2781-9345], Goodfellow, Ian G [0000-0002-9483-510X], Lehner, Paul J [0000-0001-9383-1054], Matheson, Nicholas J [0000-0002-3318-1851], Weekes, Michael P [0000-0003-3196-5545], and Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository
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Microbiology and Infectious Disease ,Epidemiology and Global Health ,SARS-CoV-2 ,COVID-19 ,asymptomatic ,BNT162b2 ,Pfizer-BioNTech ,Research Advance ,vaccination ,Human - Abstract
The BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech) is being utilised internationally for mass COVID-19 vaccination. Evidence of single-dose protection against symptomatic disease has encouraged some countries to opt for delayed booster doses of BNT162b2, but the effect of this strategy on rates of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection remains unknown. We previously demonstrated frequent pauci- and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection amongst healthcare workers (HCWs) during the UK’s first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, using a comprehensive PCR-based HCW screening programme (Rivett et al., 2020; Jones et al., 2020). Here, we evaluate the effect of first-dose BNT162b2 vaccination on test positivity rates and find a fourfold reduction in asymptomatic infection amongst HCWs ≥12 days post-vaccination. These data provide real-world evidence of short-term protection against asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection following a single dose of BNT162b2 vaccine, suggesting that mass first-dose vaccination will reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission, as well as the burden of COVID-19 disease.
- Published
- 2021
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