Healthcare workers receiving a COVID-19 booster vaccine had a 45% lower risk of having symptoms 6 weeks after infection, as published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. From December 2021 to April 2022 (during the omicron period), workers who had COVID-19 and had also received a 3rd COVID-19 vaccine dose had a lower prevalence of any symptoms compared to those who did not have a 3rd dose when measured at 6 weeks post-infection (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.55; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.43 to 0.70). If the 3rd vaccine dose was administered 16 weeks or less before infection, healthcare providers had lower odds of reporting symptoms (aOR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.87) than those who received the dose more than 16 weeks before. Researchers studied 1,422 workers who had COVID-19, all of which were fully vaccinated with 2 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, and 66.3% had received a 3rd, booster dose.
Staffing issues: Anticipating some staff sick days in the approaching respiratory virus season, urgent care operators might consider prompting staff to stay current with COVID-19 vaccines to help avoid work days lost to lingering symptoms.