A new study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states after Omicron spread quickly and ruthlessly at a recent New York City convention, boosters helped contain the virus. It found that attendees at the event who had gotten their booster shots were less likely to contract the virus.
“Attack rates among a cohort of persons attending a convention were high, but lower among infected attendees’ household members. There were fewer infections among vaccinated attendees who had received a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose,” a question about the findings of the report summarize. The convention stays unnamed within the entire report, but many claim it matches the descriptions of the Anime NYC convention that was held between November 18 till December 20, 2021 at the Javits Center in Manhattan.
As we progress through this leg of the pandemic, researchers and medical workers are figuring out how the Omicron variant is different from the previous mutation that affected people differently. There were several interviews involved in the process of the report, including patients and organizers of the convention to help figure out the regulations at the event along with symptoms and affects for those who contracted it.
The research details, “The 16 attendees with positive test results had a total of 20 household contacts, 18 of whom sought testing after exposure; six received a positive test result for SARS-CoV-2. None of the persons with positive test results was hospitalized or died. There was limited convention-associated transmission identified outside of this cluster; the larger investigation included cases of both SARS-CoV-2 B.1.617.2 (Delta) and Omicron, and all Omicron cases were associated with this group (1).”
A patient who was vaccinated till his booster shot traveled to the convention, and contracted Omicron between November 18 and 22. While 23 attendees were contacted since the infection, 16 tested positive, equating to a 70% rate of infection.
The report therefore adds, “Data from this investigation reinforces the importance of COVID-19 booster doses in combination with early notification and other multicomponent prevention measures to limit transmission and prevent severe illness from Omicron and other SARS-CoV-2 variants.”
