COVID-19 VACCINATION FAILURE IN A NURSING HOME PROFESSIONAL – A CASE REPORT

Vaccination is an important strategy in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. Nursing home professionals were defined as a priority group in the Portuguese COVID-19 vaccination plan. The aim was to minimize the impact of the disease in the population with a worse prognosis if infected, and also where the transmission is facilitated by the type of organization (closed community, lack of adherence to preventive measures in the elderly, and close contact within the care giver to the elderly). Although the mRNA vaccine has a described 95% efficacy in preventing COVID-19, there is still a gap in the literature about transmission in vaccinated individuals. During the pandemic, nursing home professionals and residents go through RT-PCR COVID-19 testing, even after vaccination. In this case, 25% of the institution professionals are tested twice a month, rotary. We report a case of COVID-19 in a care home professional that had been previously vaccinated for COVID-19 with Comirnaty (BNT162b2) and that had no prior record of infection. She tested positive in a RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2, 70 days after the administration of the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. After epidemiological survey and contact tracing, all family members, co-workers, and residents of the nursing home were tested for SARS-CoV-2. No secondary cases were found. Even after vaccination, keeping measures to detect the virus and mitigate its transmission are important key points to control the pandemic.