ArticleThe New England journal of medicine2021
Covid-19 Breakthrough Infections in Vaccinated Health Care Workers.
Article in The New England journal of medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 866 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Phase II Study to Evaluate Immunogenicity and Safety in Subjects With Evidence of Prior Immunity to SARS-CoV-2 of a Single Intramuscular or Intranasal Dose of the Live Recombinant Newcastle Disease Virus Based AVX/COVID-12 Vaccine
Phase II/III Parallel, Double-blind, Non-inferiority Study With Active Control, to Evaluate the Immunogenicity and Safety of a Booster Immunization Scheme With a Single Intramuscular Dose of the Recombinant Vaccine Against SARS-CoV-2
Who cites it
866 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 1,475 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prior infections and effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in test-negative studies: a systematic review and meta-analysis.American journal of epidemiology · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of Web-Based Mindfulness-Based Interventions on Anxiety, Depression, and Stress Among Frontline Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Pooled it
- Clinical Features, Antiviral Treatment, and Patient Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Comparative Analysis of the Previous and the 2022 Mpox Outbreaks.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Vaccine-induced T cell responses correlate with reduced risk of severe COVID-19 in a placebo-controlled efficacy trial.EBioMedicine · 2025Trial
- Variant-Specific IgA Protects Against Omicron Infection.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2024Trial
- Remote surveillance and detection of SARS-CoV-2 transmission among household members in King County, Washington.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Trial
- A Phase 2 Randomized Trial Evaluating the Antiviral Activity and Safety of the Direct-Acting Antiviral Bemnifosbuvir in Ambulatory Patients with Mild or Moderate COVID-19 (MOONSONG Study).Microbiology spectrum · 2023Trial
- Safety and immunogenicity of Ad5-nCoV immunization after three-dose priming with inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in Chinese adults.Nature communications · 2023Trial
- Immunogenicity of Omicron BA.1-adapted BNT162b2 vaccines: randomized trial, 3-month follow-up.Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · 2023Trial
- Safety, Tolerability and Pharmacokinetics of Half-Life Extended Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Neutralizing Monoclonal Antibodies AZD7442 (Tixagevimab-Cilgavimab) in Healthy Adults.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2023Trial
- Humoral and Cellular Immune Responses Following Bivalent SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccines in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis: A Prospective Cohort Study.Kidney medicine · 2026Article
- Review
- The global SEARCH network: providing a framework for critical COVID-19 healthcare worker cohort studies transitioning from the pandemic to the interpandemic period.BMJ global health · 2026Article
- Harnessing mucosal immunity for protective vaccines.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2026Review
- SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infection incidence, risk factors, and antibody correlates in Belgian nursing homes residents and staff (2021-2022).Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2026Article
- Vaccination and hybrid immunity is associated with SARS-CoV-2 protection but not shedding duration in rural Guatemalan households.Research square · 2026Article
- Strong effect of Anti-COVID-19 vaccination on the peak titer of antibodies against novel coronavirus: factors affecting humoral immunity in Georgian plasma donors.BMC research notes · 2026Article
- Dynamics and Protective Effectiveness of Serological Testing Among Healthcare Workers Vaccinated Against COVID-19.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Article
- CGM23 corresponds to a pan-coronavirus lipopeptide inhibitor potently inhibiting virion fusion.iScience · 2026Article
806 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
16 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDespite the high efficacy of the BNT162b2 messenger RNA vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), rare breakthrough infections have been reported, including infections among health care workers. Data are needed to characterize these infections and define correlates of breakthrough and infectivity.
methodsAt the largest medical center in Israel, we identified breakthrough infections by performing extensive evaluations of health care workers who were symptomatic (including mild symptoms) or had known infection exposure. These evaluations included epidemiologic investigations, repeat reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) assays, antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic testing (Ag-RDT), serologic assays, and genomic sequencing. Correlates of breakthrough infection were assessed in a case-control analysis. We matched patients with breakthrough infection who had antibody titers obtained within a week before SARS-CoV-2 detection (peri-infection period) with four to five uninfected controls and used generalized estimating equations to predict the geometric mean titers among cases and controls and the ratio between the titers in the two groups. We also assessed the correlation between neutralizing antibody titers and N gene cycle threshold (Ct) values with respect to infectivity.
resultsAmong 1497 fully vaccinated health care workers for whom RT-PCR data were available, 39 SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections were documented. Neutralizing antibody titers in case patients during the peri-infection period were lower than those in matched uninfected controls (case-to-control ratio, 0.361; 95% confidence interval, 0.165 to 0.787). Higher peri-infection neutralizing antibody titers were associated with lower infectivity (higher Ct values). Most breakthrough cases were mild or asymptomatic, although 19% had persistent symptoms (>6 weeks). The B.1.1.7 (alpha) variant was found in 85% of samples tested. A total of 74% of case patients had a high viral load (Ct value, <30) at some point during their infection; however, of these patients, only 17 (59%) had a positive result on concurrent Ag-RDT. No secondary infections were documented.
conclusionsAmong fully vaccinated health care workers, the occurrence of breakthrough infections with SARS-CoV-2 was correlated with neutralizing antibody titers during the peri-infection period. Most breakthrough infections were mild or asymptomatic, although persistent symptoms did occur.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.