Frontiers in Public Health (Sep 2022)

Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Tyrolean district of Schwaz at the time of the rapid mass vaccination in March 2021 following B.1.351-variant outbreak

  • Peter Willeit,
  • Peter Willeit,
  • Janine Kimpel,
  • Hannes Winner,
  • Teresa Harthaller,
  • Helena Schäfer,
  • David Bante,
  • Barbara Falkensammer,
  • Annika Rössler,
  • Lydia Riepler,
  • Cornelia Ower,
  • Magdalena Sacher,
  • Dorothee von Laer,
  • Wegene Borena

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.989337
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10

Abstract

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In order to curb the rapid dissemination of the B.1.351 variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the district of Schwaz and beyond, the EU allocated additional vaccine doses at the beginning of March 2021 to implement a rapid mass vaccination of the population (16+). The aim of our study was to determine the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 among the adult population in the district of Schwaz at the time of the implementation. Data on previous history of infections, symptoms and immunization status were collected using a structured questionnaire. Blood samples were used to determine SARS-CoV-2 specific anti-spike, anti-nucleocapsid and neutralizing antibodies. We recruited 2,474 individuals with a median age (IQR) of 42 (31–54) years. Using the official data on distribution of age and sex, we found a standardized prevalence of undocumented infections at 15.0% (95% CI: 13.2–16.7). Taken together with the officially documented infections, we estimated that 24.0% (95% CI: 22.5–25.6) of the adult population had prior SARS-CoV-2 infection. Hence, the proportion of undocumented infections identified by our study was 55.8% (95% CI: 52.7–58.5). With a vaccination coverage of 10% among the adults population at that time, we imply that a minimum of two-thirds of the target popuation was susceptible to the circulating threat when this unique campaign started.

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