Abstract
Objective We herein report the initial impact of a national BNT162b2 rollout on SARS-CoV-2 infections in Qatar.
Methods We included all individuals who by 16 March 2021 had completed ≥14 days of follow up after the receipt of BNT162b2. We calculated incidence rates (IR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI), during days 1–7, 8–14, 15–21, 22–28, and >28 days post-vaccination. Poisson regression was used to calculate incidence rate ratios (IRR) relative to the first 7-day post-vaccination period.
Results We included 199,219 individuals with 6,521,124 person-days of follow up. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed in 1,877 (0.9%), of which 489 (26.1%) were asymptomatic and 123 (6.6%) required oxygen support. The median time from first vaccination to SARS-CoV-2 confirmation was 11.9 days (IQR 7.7–18.2). Compared with the first 7-day post-vaccination period, SARS-CoV-2 infections were lower by 65.8–84.7% during days 15–21, days 22–28, and >28 days (P <0.001 for each). For severe COVID-19, the incidence rates were 75.7– 93.3% lower (P <0.001 for each) during the corresponding time periods.
Conclusion Our results are consistent with an early protective effect of BNT162b2 against all degrees of SARS-CoV-2 severity.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Funding Statement
The publication of this report was funded by Qatar National Library. No other funding was required.
Author Declarations
I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.
Yes
The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:
The study was approved by Hamad Medical Corporation Institutional Review Board with a waiver of informed consent (MRC-01-21-207).
All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived.
Yes
I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).
Yes
I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable.
Yes
Footnotes
E-mail: azaqout{at}hamad.qa
E-mail: jnader{at}hamad.qa
E-mail: ialaqad{at}hamad.qa
E-mail: shussein4{at}hamad.qa
E-mail: aaldushain{at}hamad.qa
E-mail: @hamad.qa
E-mail: mabukhattab{at}hamad.qa
Data Availability
The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.