COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness during a Prison Outbreak when Omicron was the Dominant Circulating Variant—Zambia, December 2021

  1. John Simwanza
  2. Jonas Z. Hines
  3. Danny Sinyange
  4. Nyambe Sinyange
  5. Chilufya Mulenga
  6. Sarah Hanyinza
  7. Patrick Sakubita
  8. Nelia Langa
  9. Haggai Nowa
  10. Priscilla Gardner
  11. Ngonda Saasa
  12. Graham Chitempa
  13. James Simpungwe
  14. Warren Malambo
  15. Busiku Hamainza
  16. Peter J. Chipimo
  17. Nathan Kapata
  18. Muzala Kapina
  19. Kunda Musonda
  20. Mazyanga Liwewe
  21. Consity Mwale
  22. Sombo Fwoloshi
  23. Lloyd B. Mulenga
  24. Simon Agolory
  25. Victor Mukonka
  26. Roma Chilengi

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Abstract

During a COVID-19 outbreak in a prison in Zambia from December 14 to 19, 2021, a case–control study was done to measure vaccine effectiveness (VE) against infection and symptomatic infection, when the Omicron variant was the dominant circulating variant. Among 382 participants, 74.1% were fully vaccinated, and the median time since full vaccination was 54 days. There were no hospitalizations or deaths. COVID-19 VE against any SARS-CoV-2 infection was 64.8%, and VE against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection was 72.9%. COVID-19 vaccination helped protect incarcerated persons against SARS-CoV-2 infection during an outbreak while Omicron was the dominant variant in Zambia. These findings provide important local evidence that might be used to increase COVID-19 vaccination in Zambia and other countries in Africa.

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  1. Version published to 10.4269/ajtmh.22-0368
  2. Version published to 10.1101/2022.05.06.22274701v2 on medRxiv
  3. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2022.05.06.22274701: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    EthicsConsent: Verbal consent was obtained from the participants and for minors aged 13–17 years.
    IRB: This study was approved by the ERES Ethics review board and National Health Research Authority.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    No key resources detected.

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    This study had several limitations. All cases were confirmed with RDTs, which have lower sensitivity than PCR tests (19). Additionally, beyond initial test results, serial testing was not available meaning some controls might have been in their incubation period at the time of testing and therefore misclassified. Omicron was not confirmed by genomic sequencing in this outbreak, so the outbreak could have been from another strain; however, Omicron was already dominant in Zambia before this outbreak occurred (20). Lastly, although few participants reported a prior confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, the actual number might be much higher considering only a small proportion of cases are confirmed in Zambia (21). Rapid investigation of an outbreak in a closed setting demonstrated VE of COVID-19 vaccines against Omicron infection in Zambia. COVID-19 vaccination remains a critical tool in decreasing SARS-CoV-2 transmission and severity especially when coupled with a layered prevention including well-fitting facemask use, hand hygiene, limiting large gatherings, and adequate ventilation and/or outdoor gatherings. Continuing to rapidly scale COVID-19 vaccination to all eligible persons in Zambia can help prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission and symptomatic COVID-19. Attribution of Support: This work has been supported by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the CDC Emergency Response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  4. Version published to 10.1101/2022.05.06.22274701v1 on medRxiv