Effectiveness of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Messenger RNA Vaccines for Preventing Coronavirus Disease 2019 Hospitalizations in the United States

Mark W. Tenforde, Manish M. Patel, Adit A. Ginde, David J. Douin, H. Keipp Talbot, Jonathan D. Casey, Nicholas M. Mohr, Anne Zepeski, Manjusha Gaglani, Tresa McNeal, Shekhar Ghamande, Nathan I. Shapiro, Kevin W. Gibbs, D. Clark Files, David N. Hager, Arber Shehu, Matthew E. Prekker, Heidi L. Erickson, Matthew C. Exline, Michelle N. GongAmira Mohamed, Daniel J. Henning, Jay S. Steingrub, Ithan D. Peltan, Samuel M. Brown, Emily T. Martin, Arnold S. Monto, Akram Khan, Catherine L. Hough, Laurence W. Busse, Caitlin C. Ten Lohuis, Abhijit Duggal, Jennifer G. Wilson, Alexandra June Gordon, Nida Qadir, Steven Y. Chang, Christopher Mallow, Hayley B. Gershengorn, Hilary M. Babcock, Jennie H. Kwon, Natasha Halasa, James D. Chappell, Adam S. Lauring, Carlos G. Grijalva, Todd W. Rice, Ian D. Jones, William B. Stubblefield, Adrienne Baughman, Kelsey N. Womack, Christopher J. Lindsell, Kimberly W. Hart, Yuwei Zhu, Samantha M. Olson, Meagan Stephenson, Stephanie J. Schrag, Miwako Kobayashi, Jennifer R. Verani, Wesley H. Self

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

70 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: As severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination coverage increases in the United States, there is a need to understand the real-world effectiveness against severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and among people at increased risk for poor outcomes. Methods: In a multicenter case-control analysis of US adults hospitalized March 11-May 5, 2021, we evaluated vaccine effectiveness to prevent COVID-19 hospitalizations by comparing odds of prior vaccination with a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna) between cases hospitalized with COVID-19 and hospital-based controls who tested negative for SARS-CoV-2. Results: Among 1212 participants, including 593 cases and 619 controls, median age was 58 years, 22.8% were Black, 13.9% were Hispanic, and 21.0% had immunosuppression. SARS-CoV-2 lineage B0.1.1.7 (Alpha) was the most common variant (67.9% of viruses with lineage determined). Full vaccination (receipt of 2 vaccine doses ≥14 days before illness onset) had been received by 8.2% of cases and 36.4% of controls. Overall vaccine effectiveness was 87.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 80.7-91.3). Vaccine effectiveness was similar for Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, and highest in adults aged 18-49 years (97.4%; 95% CI, 79.3-9.7). Among 45 patients with vaccine-breakthrough COVID hospitalizations, 44 (97.8%) were ≥50 years old and 20 (44.4%) had immunosuppression. Vaccine effectiveness was lower among patients with immunosuppression (62.9%; 95% CI,20.8-82.6) than without immunosuppression (91.3%; 95% CI, 85.6-94.8). Conclusion: During March-May 2021, SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines were highly effective for preventing COVID-19 hospitalizations among US adults. SARS-CoV-2 vaccination was beneficial for patients with immunosuppression, but effectiveness was lower in the immunosuppressed population.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1515-1524
Number of pages10
JournalClinical Infectious Diseases
Volume74
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1 2022

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • hospitalized
  • immunocompromised
  • mRNA vaccines
  • vaccine effectiveness

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Microbiology (medical)
  • Infectious Diseases

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