DentalCare Logo

Mandated, Highly Recommended, and Other Vaccines for Oral Healthcare Personnel

Course Number: 479

SARS-CoV-2

SARS-CoV-2, the highly contagious virus that causes COVID-19, is spread predominantly through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks.38 Symptoms vary widely from mild to severe and include loss of taste or smell, fever, chills, muscle or body aches, sore throat, nausea or vomiting, cough, and breathing difficulties. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus; however, some infected patients never develop symptoms and asymptomatic spread is significant.39,40 Infected patients who are older and / or have certain medical conditions (Box 5) are at higher risk of developing severe or fatal disease.41

Box 5. Age and Conditions Associated with Increased COVID Disease Severity41

AgeRisk of HospitalizationRisk of Death
 18-29 years Comparison Group Comparison Group
 30-39 years 2x higher 4x higher
 40-49 years 3x higher 10x higher
 50-64 years 4x higher 30x higher
 65-74 years 5x higher 90x higher
 75-84 years 8x higher 220x higher
 85+ years  13x higher 630x higher
Conditions associated with increased severity COVID-19
Cancer 
Chronic kidney disease
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
Down Syndrome
Heart conditions (e.g., heart failure, coronary artery disease,or cardiomyopathies)  
Immunocompromised state from solid organ transplant
Obesity (BMI of 30 - 40)
Severe Obesity (BMI ≥ 40)
Pregnancy
Sickle cell disease
Smoking
Type 2 diabetes mellitus

Active Immunization: SARS-CoV-2.42

The first two COVID-19 vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech [BNT162b2] and Moderna [mRNA-1273]) developed to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection received Emergency Use Authorizations from the FDA in December 2020 (Table 7). Both vaccines employ the mRNA technology platform and appear to be very efficacious in generating immunity. BNT162b2 is approved for use in persons ≥12 years of age and mRNA-1273 is approved for persons ≥18 years of age. On February 27, 2021, the FDA issued Emergency Use Authorization of the single-dose COVID -19 vaccine (Johnson & Johnson [JNJ-778436735]). It is an adenovirus serotype 26 vector-based vaccine and is for persons ≥18 years of age. The safety of these vaccines for pregnant and breast-feeding women has not been officially established; however, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommend otherwise eligible pregnant or lactating women be vaccinated. Other manufacturers (e.g., AstraZeneca/Oxford, Novavax, others) are aggressively developing additional candidate vaccines.

Table 7. SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines.4,42

 Vaccines Indications SchedulesAdverse Effects

BNT162b2

 Preexposure 

2 IM doses, 0 and 21 days*

Injection site pain, erythema and swelling, fatigue, axillary swelling / tenderness, fatigue, chills, headache, fever, muscle and joint pain, nausea / vomiting.

Adverse effects more frequent after second dose.

Anaphylaxis and anaphylactoid reactions (~11.1 / million doses) have been reported.

mRNA-1273

2 IM doses, 0 and 28 days*

JNJ-778436735

 1 IM dose

Injection site pain, erythema and swelling, fatigue, fatigue, headache, myalgia, fever, nausea.

Thrombo-thrombocytopenia syndrome (~3.1 / million doses) and anaphylaxis have been reported.

 * Second doses should be administered as close to the recommended interval as possible. There is no maximum interval between the first and second dose.