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. 2022 Jun 22;14(7):1359.
doi: 10.3390/v14071359.

Effect of COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign in Belgian Nursing Homes on COVID-19 Cases, Hospital Admissions, and Deaths among Residents

Sara Dequeker  1 , Milena Callies  1 , Catharina Vernemmen  1 , Katrien Latour  1 , Laura Int Panis  1 , Romain Mahieu  2 , Lennert Noppe  3 , Muhammet Savsin  4 , Els Duysburgh  1
Affiliations

Effect of COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign in Belgian Nursing Homes on COVID-19 Cases, Hospital Admissions, and Deaths among Residents

Sara Dequeker et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

In view of the grave situation during the first two waves of SARS-CoV-2 virus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2), nursing homes (NHs) were prioritised for vaccination once vaccines became available in Belgium. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) vaccination campaign on COVID-19 cases, hospital admissions, and deaths among residents living in Belgian NHs. All 1545 Belgian NHs were invited to participate in a COVID-19 surveillance program. In Belgium, before vaccination, COVID-19 morbidity and mortality rates were driven by the situation in the NHs. Shortly after the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, and later the booster campaign, the number of hospital admissions and deaths among NH residents dropped, while clear peaks could be observed among the general population. The impact of vaccination on virus circulation was less effective than expected. However, due to the high vaccination coverage, NH residents remain well protected against hospital admission and death due to COVID-19 more than one year after being vaccinated.

Keywords: Belgium; COVID-19; epidemiology; nursing homes; surveillance.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) Hospital admissions and deaths per 1000 nursing home (NH) residents (left y axis) and hospital admissions and deaths per 100,000 inhabitants (including NH residents) (right y axis), per week (two-week moving average), 6–20 March 2022. (B) Confirmed cases per 1000 nursing home (NH) residents and confirmed cases per 1000 inhabitants (including NH residents), per week (two-week moving average), 6–20 March 2022. Grey boxes indicate the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) vaccination campaign and the booster administration in NHs. Red brackets indicate the different waves.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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