There have been more than 1 million deaths in the United States from COVID- 19 and more than 6.5 million worldwide since the beginning of the pandemic.
For the unvaccinated, under-vaccinated and immunocompromised, the 400 average daily deaths from endemic COVID-19 across the U.S. translates into more than 180,000 additional deaths over the next 12 months. According to the CDC, in-hospital mortality among patients hospitalized primarily for COVID-19 is 4.9% during the later Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variant period.
To date, nearly 220 million people in the U.S. have received a COVID-19 primary vaccine series, and more than 100 million have also received booster doses. Multiple studies demonstrate that COVID-19 vaccines are strongly associated with prevention of COVID-19-associated hospitalization in adults, especially with the addition of a booster dose.
A study reported in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) using data from the Coronavirus Disease 2019-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET) evaluated factors associated with hospitalizations, including comparisons of unvaccinated persons, persons vaccinated with a primary series without a booster dose, and those vaccinated with a primary series and at least one booster dose.
Monthly COVID-19–associated hospitalization rates were as much as 17.7 times higher in unvaccinated persons than vaccinated persons regardless of booster dose status. The later Omicron variant, BA.5, has a more significant respiratory impact than earlier Omicron variants that is related to the increased amount of virus that gathers in the blood vessel channels of respiratory cells in BA.5, which helps explain why we are now seeing more significant pulmonary complications in infected patients. Given the nearly 5 percent mortality rate in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, this should be eye-opening and help inform personal vaccine decisions.
Vaccinated hospitalized patients with COVID-19 were older (70 vs. 58 years old) than those who were unvaccinated and more likely to have three or more underlying medical conditions. Finally, an earlier JAMA study estimated mRNA vaccine effectiveness against severe COVID-19 was 87.2% with no evidence of waning up to six months after a single booster shot, which clearly demonstrates even a single mRNA vaccine booster provides significant increased protection against hospitalization and death compared to only receiving the primary two-shot series.
Bottom line: getting a COVID-19 booster shot prevents hospitalization and death, particularly among the elderly with co-morbid medical conditions.
Upper Black Eddy resident David Segarnick Ph.D. is chief medical officer/executive vice president, MedEvoke, an iNIZIO company, and adjunct assistant professor, pharmacology, physiology and neuroscience, Rutgers/NJ Medical School. Dr. Segarnick reports no conflicts of interest.
Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.
