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We examined the role of vaccination status, work role, and AGP frequency on positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR surveillance test using a Cox proportional hazards regression and weighted for dropout. A total of 410 dental health workers (200 students, 104 faculty, and 106 staff) had 8,270 screening tests performed between May 2020 and February 2022, with 158 positive tests; 60 (38%) occurred in January 2022. Omicron had a significant impact on vaccination effectiveness. Vaccine effectiveness within &lt;\u20094 months was 91% (HR: 0.09,95% CI: 0.02\u20130.40) prior to Omicron, which decreased after its emergence. Work role was not associated with risk of positive test. Reported AGP frequency was also not associated with positive test risk; however, these analyses were limited to a subset of participants and should be considered exploratory. More than a third of all positive tests occurred during one month of Omicron. We found a high vaccine effectiveness prior to the Omicron surge, which decreased after the emergence of Omicron. Our results support encouraging dental healthcare workers (DCWs) to maintain up-to-date vaccination and continue engaging in preventive measures.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-026-50216-8","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T05:47:12Z","timestamp":1777960032000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["SARS-CoV-2 surveillance and vaccine effectiveness among dental healthcare workers during the omicron surge"],"prefix":"10.1038","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Holly","family":"Shoemaker","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jeri L.","family":"Bullock","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kristina","family":"Stratford","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Melodie L.","family":"Weller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wendy L.","family":"Hobson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jeanmarie","family":"Mayer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yue","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vanessa","family":"Stevens","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stacey E.","family":"Swilling","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Matthew","family":"Samore","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"50216_CR1","first-page":"42","volume":"15488578","author":"LB Goldstein","year":"2021","unstructured":"Goldstein, L. 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