Editor's Note This study from Switzerland finds that COVID-19 positivity in healthcare workers (HCWs) was associated with cumulative patient exposure, which could be modulated with the use of respirator masks. Of 2,919 HCWs included in the study, 749 were infected with COVID-19. Positivity was 13% in HCWs without patient exposure.…
Editor's Note This study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, finds that being boosted with either the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was associated with increased humoral and cellular immune responses. Boosting with the Janssen vaccine also was associated with durable antibody and T-cell…
Editor's Note This study led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, finds that healthcare facilities in counties with higher Black composition and rural areas with large Hispanic populations were less likely to serve as COVID-19 vaccine administration locations during the initial rollout in May 2021. At that…
Editor's Note This cohort study of nursing homes in 38 states, led by the University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, finds that states with a COVID-19 mandate had an increase in staff vaccinations compared with states with no mandates and no worsening of staffing shortages following the mandates.…
Editor's Note This study by researchers from Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, finds that completing a primary vaccination series after recovering from COVID-19 reduces the risk of reinfection by about half. A total of 95,000 Rhode Island residents participated in this cohort study, including residents and employees of long-term congregate…
Editor's Note This Korean study finds that full COVID-19 vaccination was associated with a reduced risk of acute myocardial infarction (MI) and ischemic stroke after being infected with COVID-19. Of 592,719 patients with COVID-19 during the study period, 231,037 were included in the analysis, of whom 62,727 were never vaccinated…
Editor's Note This study, led by the University of Miami and sponsored by the CDC, finds that unvaccinated first responders (eg, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and others) were more likely to develop COVID-19 and less likely to believe in the effectiveness and safety of vaccines than their vaccinated counterparts. Of…
Editor's Note This Italian study describes the long-term features of the immune response to COVID-19 for different ages after mild infection. In this cohort of 252 family clusters with COVID-19, the immune response persisted until 12 months after infection in all age groups, with significantly higher antibody peaks for younger…
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee on June 28 recommended updating the composition of COVID-19 booster vaccines to target the Omicron variant. The Committee noted that booster doses consisting of an Omicron monovalent or bivalent vaccine could improve neutralizing antibody responses…
Editor's Note In a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, report that the three Omicron subvariants (BA.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5) currently dominant in the US substantially escape neutralizing antibodies induced by both vaccination and previous COVID-19 infection. The researchers…