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Master of Public Health

Sustained Effectiveness of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Vaccines Against COVID-19 Associated Hospitalizations Among Adults - United States, March-July 2021

AUTHORS

Tenforde MW , Self WH , Naioti EA , Ginde AA , Douin DJ , Olson SM , Talbot HK , Casey JD , Mohr NM , Zepeski A , Gaglani M , McNeal T , Ghamande S , Shapiro NI , Gibbs KW , Files DC , Hager DN , Shehu A , Prekker ME , Erickson HL , Gong MN , Mohamed A , Henning DJ , Steingrub JS , Peltan ID , Brown SM , Martin ET , Monto AS , Khan A , Hough CL , Busse LW , Ten Lohuis CC , Duggal A , Wilson JG , Gordon AJ , Qadir N , Chang SY , Mallow C , Rivas C , Babcock HM , Kwon JH , Exline MC , Halasa N , Chappell JD , Lauring AS , Grijalva CG , Rice TW , Jones ID , Stubblefield WB , Baughman A , Womack KN , Lindsell CJ , Hart KW , Zhu Y , Stephenson M , Schrag SJ , Kobayashi M , Verani JR , Patel MM , , , . MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report. 2021 8 27; 70(34). 1156-1162

ABSTRACT

Real-world evaluations have demonstrated high effectiveness of vaccines against COVID-19-associated hospitalizations (1-4) measured shortly after vaccination; longer follow-up is needed to assess durability of protection. In an evaluation at 21 hospitals in 18 states, the duration of mRNA vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna) effectiveness (VE) against COVID-19-associated hospitalizations was assessed among adults aged ≥18 years. Among 3,089 hospitalized adults (including 1,194 COVID-19 case-patients and 1,895 non-COVID-19 control-patients), the median age was 59 years, 48.7% were female, and 21.1% had an immunocompromising condition. Overall, 141 (11.8%) case-patients and 988 (52.1%) controls were fully vaccinated (defined as receipt of the second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines ≥14 days before illness onset), with a median interval of 65 days (range = 14-166 days) after receipt of second dose. VE against COVID-19-associated hospitalization during the full surveillance period was 86% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 82%-88%) overall and 90% (95% CI = 87%-92%) among adults without immunocompromising conditions. VE against COVID-19- associated hospitalization was 86% (95% CI = 82%-90%) 2-12 weeks and 84% (95% CI = 77%-90%) 13-24 weeks from receipt of the second vaccine dose, with no significant change between these periods (p = 0.854). Whole genome sequencing of 454 case-patient specimens found that 242 (53.3%) belonged to the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) lineage and 74 (16.3%) to the B.1.617.2 (Delta) lineage. Effectiveness of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19-associated hospitalization was sustained over a 24-week period, including among groups at higher risk for severe COVID-19; ongoing monitoring is needed as new SARS-CoV-2 variants emerge. To reduce their risk for hospitalization, all eligible persons should be offered COVID-19 vaccination.

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