Relative Vaccine Effectiveness of a SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccine Booster Dose Against the Omicron Variant

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Relative Vaccine Effectiveness of a SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccine Booster Dose Against the Omicron Variant Via Clinical Infectious Diseases Advance Access Abstract Background The current SARS-CoV-2 vaccines may be less effective against the Omicron variant. With recent resurgence of SARS-CoV-2 cases, the role of booster doses of the vaccine needs to be highlighted. Methods Using a retrospective cohort study design emulating a target trial, we determined the relative effectiveness of a homologous booster dose of a SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine compared with primary series alone in preventing infection, hospitalization, a nd intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and death in the Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare system in the US. Among infection-free survivors who received two doses of an mRNA vaccine prior to April 30, 2021, we identified those who received a booster between September 22 and December 25, 2021 and 1:1 matched individuals who did not receive a booster. Results Among 2,384,272 previously uninfected persons with two doses of an mRNA vaccine by April 30, 2021, we identified 462,950 booster recipients between September 22 and December 25, 2021 who were matched 1:1 with non-booster recipients. RVE (95% CI) was 19% (17-22%) for confirmed infection, 52% (46-57%) for hospitalization, and 83% (65-92%) for ICU admission or death. Recipients of the mRNA-1273 vaccine had a lower cumulative incidence of infections and hospitalizations compared with BNT-162b2 vaccine (log-rank p-value <0.001 for both comparisons). Conclusion While the RVE of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA booster vacci ne dose in preventing infection against the Omicron variant is low, the RVE is substantial in preventing hospitalization and high in preventing the most severe/critical disease. View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.