ABSTRACT
Objectives: Seasonal fruit workers are a high-risk group for SARS-COV-2 infection. We aimed to estimate vaccination coverage and factors associated with vaccination in seasonal fruit workers. Methods: We carried out an anonymous survey of seasonal fruit workers in the 2021 campaign in Baix Segria region and Lleida city (Spain) on vaccination, knowledge and attitudes about the COVID-19 vaccine. Univariate and bivariate descriptive analyses were performed comparing vaccinated versus non-vaccinated. Multivariate analysis was performed using to assess factors associated to vaccination uptake. Results: We included 286 seasonal workers. The prevalence of confirmed COVID-19 background was 39.5% and overall vaccination coverage was 78.7%. Factors associated with vaccination were age (aOR = 0.96;95% CI: 0.94–0.99), good knowledge of disease (aOR = 1.87;95% CI : 1.01–3.47) and having a high-perceived vaccine effectiveness (aOR = 2.94;95% CI : 1.50–5.73). High vaccination coverage in workers was associated to knowledge (OR = 3.69;95% CI: 1.61–8.48), safe transport (OR = 2.84;95% CI: 1.40–5.76) and appropriate housing (OR = 2.62;95% CI: 1.25–5.46) as important non-pharmacological measures to reduced transmission. Conclusion: The study confirms the high prevalence of COVID-19 history and moderate vaccination coverage in seasonal fruit workers. Health education programs to improve knowledge about COVID-19 and its vaccination can help improve vaccination uptake.
ABSTRACT
New SARS-CoV-2 may pose problems in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic for public health. We aimed to assess and compare the symptoms and severity of cases due to the Alpha and Delta variant dominance periods, taking into account the effect of COVID-19 vaccination. A prospective epidemiological study of SARS-CoV-2 in Lleida was made to determine differences between Alpha and Delta variants periods. We assessed symptoms, specific comorbidities, sociodemographic information and vaccination status. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) to investigate the relationship between symptoms and severity and the variants. Alpha variant period compared to the Delta showed an increased risk of ICU admission (aOR 2.0; 95% CI 1.2-2.3) and death (aOR 2.6; 95% CI 1.8-3.9) and cases were associated with people aged > 85 years (aOR 2.1; 95% CI 1.7-2.6) and partially vaccinated (aOR 5.6; 95% CI 3.2-9.9) and unvaccinated people (aOR 27.8; 95% CI 19.7-40.5). Fever, cough and vomiting were significantly associated with the Alpha variant compared to the Delta (aOR 1.6 (95% CI 1.5-1.7), 2.0 (95% CI 1.9-2.2) and 2.5 (95% CI 2.2-2.9, respectively). Our results show that the severity and profile of clinical symptoms varied according to the variant. The risk of ICU admission and death was higher in the Alpha period compared to the Delta as it affected the elderly and cases were less vaccinated.