COVID-19 Positivity Rate among the Students and Faculty of RajarajeswariDental College & Hospital, Bangalore During the Peak of Second Wave afterTwo Standard Doses of Covishield Vaccine - A Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

Background and aims The COVID-19 is an ongoing global pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 SARS-CoV-2. It is one of the deadliest pandemics in history. As the COVID-19 pandemic continued to spread at an alarming rate globally various vaccines were developed with international standards. COVISHIELDtrade vaccine the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was the first vaccine which the Government of India gave permission to be administered among all the health care workers irrespective of their age group. To evaluate the efficacy and effectiveness of the COVISHIELDtrade ChAdOx1 nCoV- 19 vaccination there is a need to study the occurrence of COVID-19 infection in vaccinated individuals. Aim of this present study was to evaluate the COVID-19 positivity rate among the students and faculty of Rajarajeswari Dental College amp Hospital Bengaluru during the peak of second wave after administering two standard doses of COVISHIELDtrade vaccine.Methods A questionnaire study was designed and distributed four weeks post the second standard dose of COVISHIELDtrade vaccination. This study included all the staff and students of Rajarajeswari Dental College amp Hospital who were vaccinated with two standard doses of COVISHIELDtrade vaccine. It was distributed as a google form to all the study subjects. The medium of instruction of the questionnaire was English. The questionnaire had two parts. To avoid bias most of the questions were framed in such a way that only lsquoyesrsquo or lsquonorsquo responses can be provided as answers. This study consisted of a total of 650 subjects which included undergraduates post graduates teaching and non-teaching staff. The obtained data was subjected to statistical analysis using Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS software.Results Six hundred and fifty subjects were screened for the study out of which 607 subjects were vaccinated. Out of 607 subjects 32 patients were tested COVID-19 positive after taking two standard doses of COVISHIELDtrade vaccine while 575 subjects were found to be COVID-19 negative after taking two standard doses of COVISHIELDtrade vaccination. Out of 32 subjects who tested positive only one subject showed a low SpO2 and required hospitalization with oxygen support. Rest of the positive subjects showed mild to moderate symptoms requiring only home quarantine.Conclusion Within the limitations of this study it can be concluded that the positivity rate for coronavirus disease among health care providers and frontline workers vaccinated with two standard doses of COVISHIELDtrade vaccine was very less compared to positivity rate in the general population during the second wave.nbsp