Impact of prior SARS-COV-2 infection and vaccination on COVID-19 hospital admission and mortality amongst nursing home residents

Background Nursing home residents (NHRs) have experienced disproportionately high risk of severe outcomes due to COVID-19 infection. Aim We investigated the impact of COVID-19 vaccinations and previous SARS-CoV-2 episodes in preventing hospitalization and mortality in NHRs. Methods Retrospective study of a cohort of all NHRs in our area who were alive at the start of the vaccination campaign. The first three doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and prior COVID-19 infections were registered. The main outcomes were hospital admission and mortality during each follow up. Random effects time-varying Cox models adjusted for age, sex, and comorbidities were fitted to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) according to vaccination status. Results COVID-19 hospitalization and death rates for unvaccinated NHRs were respectively 2.39 and 1.42 per 10,000 person-days, falling after administration of the second dose (0.37 and 0.34) and rising with the third dose (1.08 and 0.8). Rates were much lower amongst people who had previously had COVID-19. Adjusted HRs indicated a significant decrease in hospital admission amongst those with a two- and three-dose status; those who had had a previous COVID-19 infection had even lower hospital admission rates. Death rates decreased as NHRs received two and three doses, and the probability of death was much lower among those who had previously had the infection. Conclusions The effectiveness of current vaccines against severe COVID-19 disease in NHRs remains high and SARS-CoV-2 episodes prior to vaccination entail a major reduction in hospitalization and mortality rates. The protection conferred by vaccines appears to decline in the following months. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04463706. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40520-023-02446-3.