Table 1.

Characteristics of patients hospitalized with positive COVID-19 molecular tests in the mass vaccination era and proposal of their best setting of care.

Type of patient	Characteristics	Best setting of care
Unvaccinated	Fever, respiratory failure, chest imaging evidence of interstitial pneumonia	Pneumology Infectivology Internal medicine ICU or subintensive care
Breakthrough infection, asymptomatic	Admitted for reasons unrelated to COVID-19, unexpected positivity on RT-PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2	Internal medicine Other specialty according to the index clinical picture
Breakthrough infection, paucisymptomatic	Complex clinical presentation exhibiting some features (fever, dyspnea) compatible with both COVID-19 and other pre-existing diseases, chest imaging negative or undetermined for interstitial pneumonia, presence of multimorbidity and/or frailty. COVID-19 is not the index disease but simply one condition with the same or lower priority than other conditions	Internal medicine Geriatrics Community facilities (milder cases) Hospital-at-home programs (milder cases)
Breakthrough infection, symptomatic	Fever, respiratory failure, chest imaging evidence of interstitial pneumonia, usually with reduced severity and potential of evolution towards severe forms. Comorbidities may be present, but COVID-19 holds the highest priority in care.	Pneumology Infectivology Internal medicine or geriatrics ICU or subintensive care
Long-term positivity (vaccinated or not)	Documented previous episode of COVID-19, admitted for reasons unrelated to COVID-19 or for complex cardiorespiratory symptoms not certainly related to acute interstitial pneumonia, possible long-COVID features, persistent viral shedding from upper airway mucosa	Internal medicine Geriatrics Community facilities (milder cases) Hospital-at-home programs (milder cases)