Vaccinations Sharply Cut Virus Spread in Nursing Communities, Study Says.

A study in the New England Journal of Medicine found COVID-19 vaccinations appear to confer significant protection upon nursing community residents, reports the New York Times . The researchers noted that inoculation also appeared to protect residents who did not themselves get vaccinated, suggesting that unvaccinated residents benefit when others around them are immunized. After receiving an initial dose, 4.5 percent of residents still contracted the virus, although most cases were asymptomatic. Of the group receiving the second dose, just 0.3 percent got the virus after two weeks. Unvaccinated residents' rate of infection fell to 0.3 percent from 4.3 percent, and most infections were asymptomatic among all groups, with both symptomatic and asymptomatic infection rates declining over time. These findings track with recent guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which stated that people who get inoculated face much lower risk, while significant risk remains for unvaccinated individuals. "Robust vaccine coverage among residents and staff, together with the continued use of face masks and other infection-control measures, is likely to afford protection for a small number of unvaccinated residents," the researchers concluded.