This study was conducted from February to May 2021, during the rise and peak of the dominance of the nascence variant of severe acute respiratory pattern coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Still, in early July of the same time,non-pharmaceutical measures were relaxed in the Netherlands, and the largely transmittable SARS-CoV-2 delta variant snappily rose to elevation In an update to this work, the exploration group reports on the waning effectiveness of the coronavirus complaint 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines against transmission to ménage connections in the face of these relaxed measures and further transmittable strains of SARS-CoV-2.
A preprint interpretation of the study is available on the medRxiv * garçon while the composition undergoes peer review.
How was the study performed?
The authors state that numerous SARS-CoV-2 delta variant cases in July left health services unfit to engage completely in contact dogging. Therefore the deficient data set from this period are barred from analysis, beginning on August 9th. Also, the Netherlands introduced vaccine passport conditions as of September 24th, which the authors conclude is likely to dispose party geste, therefore the study’s final date Unlike during the peak of nascence variant dominance, where a variety of SARS-CoV-2 variants were still explosively represented in the population, the delta variant constituted over 97 of all COVID-19 cases during this period.
As determined by source tracing interviews, indicator cases that had come infected with SARS-CoV-2 outside of the home were eligible for the study. All actors and their ménage connections progressed over 12 were also included in the analysis. Each was classified as completely, incompletely, or not vaccinated, allowing the secondary attack rate of SARS-CoV-2 towards ménage connections to be compared between groups.
Four thousand nine hundred twenty-four indicator cases were included in the study;53.9 were completely vaccinated, and8.2 were incompletely vaccinated. The average vaccination rate amongst grown-ups in the Netherlands is 71, and therefore the overrepresentation of the unvaccinated in the study group indicates vaccine effectiveness against transmission Amongst vaccinated indicator cases, there was an11.6 prevalence ofnon-vaccinated individualities living in the same home, while amongst thenon-vaccinated,59.1 of ménage connections were also not vaccinated.
Vaccine effectiveness against transmission
In cases where the indicator case is vaccinated but the ménage is not, also the secondary attack rate was 13, while unvaccinated indicator cases convinced secondary cases 22 of the time innon-vaccinated ménage connections, producing acclimated vaccine effectiveness against transmission of 63 Where ménage connections were completely vaccinated, transmission from the indicator case passed in 11 and 12 of cases when vaccinated ornon-vaccinated, independently. The authors state that bias relating to the senior being more likely to be completely vaccinated, live in participated accommodation with other indicator cases, and suffer secondary attack likely disposed this result and therefore produced acclimated effectiveness of vaccination against transmission from indicator cases of 40.
In the former study concerning the nascence variant of SARS-CoV-2, vaccine effectiveness against transmission was 71, conceivably a result of the enhanced transmissibility observed of the delta variant. The secondary attack rate amongstnon-vaccinated ménage connections was lower for the delta variant than nascence, which the authors presume may be due to further pervasive seroprevalence in the population or the on average youngish population of this study Waning vaccine effectiveness against transmission over time was also noted in this study. Individualities who had entered the vaccine over two months preliminarily were more likely to engage in secondary transmission. As the most vulnerable population were vaccinated foremost, the observed loss in effectiveness against transmission may be incompletely due to this waning protection.
Conclusions
Before July 2021, individualities positive for COVID-19 and their ménage connections were needed to counterblockade at home for ten days. Still, rules were changed to allow completely vaccinated ménage connections to avoid counterblockade at this time Farther, the demand that ménage connections produce a negative COVID-19 test before release from counterblockade was lifted, likely causing numerous secondary attack infections to be missed by this study and performing in an overestimation of secondary attack rates. Differences in testing geste between vaccinated andnon-vaccinated individualities also poison results, where asymptomaticnon-vaccinated individualities are less likely to take and report the results of a test.