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. 2022 Aug 3:jiac318. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiac318

COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 infection in the United States prior to the Delta and Omicron-associated surges: a retrospective cohort study of repeat blood donors

Eduard Grebe 1,2,3,, Elaine A Yu 4, Marjorie D Bravo 5, Alex Welte 6, Roberta L Bruhn 7,8, Mars Stone 9,10, Valerie Green 11, Phillip C Williamson 12, Leora R Feldstein 13, Jefferson M Jones 14, Michael P Busch 15,16,#, Brian Custer 17,18,#
PMCID: PMC9384661  PMID: 35921537

ABSTRACT

To inform public health policy, it is critical to monitor COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE), including against acquiring infection. We estimated VE using self-reported vaccination in a retrospective cohort of repeat blood donors who donated during the first half of 2021, demonstrating a viable approach for monitoring of VE via serological surveillance. Using Poisson regression, we estimated an overall VE of 88.8% (95% CI: 86.2–91.1), adjusted for demographic covariates and variable baseline risk. Time since first reporting vaccination, age, race-ethnicity, region, and calendar time were statistically significant predictors of incident infection.

Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, vaccines, vaccine effectiveness, blood donors

Contributor Information

Eduard Grebe, Vitalant Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA; University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; South African DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (SACEMA), Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Elaine A Yu, Vitalant Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Marjorie D Bravo, Corporate Medical Affairs, Vitalant, Scottsdale, AZ, USA.

Alex Welte, South African DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (SACEMA), Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Roberta L Bruhn, Vitalant Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA; University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Mars Stone, Vitalant Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA; University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Valerie Green, Creative Testing Solutions, Tempe, AZ, USA.

Phillip C Williamson, Creative Testing Solutions, Tempe, AZ, USA.

Leora R Feldstein, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Jefferson M Jones, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Michael P Busch, Vitalant Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA; University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Brian Custer, Vitalant Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA; University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Supplementary Material

jiac318_Supplementary_Data

Associated Data

This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.

Supplementary Materials

jiac318_Supplementary_Data

Articles from The Journal of Infectious Diseases are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

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