Fully vaccinated: 20% cases, 15% hospitalizations in New York
New COVID-19 Cases and Hospitalizations Among Adults, by Vaccination Status — New York, May 3–July 25, 2021
During May 3–July 25, a total of 9,675 new cases (1.31 per 100,000 person-days) occurred among fully vaccinated adults, compared with 38,505 (10.69 per 100,000 person-days) among unvaccinated adults. A total of 1,271 new COVID-19 hospitalizations (0.17 per 100,000 person-days) occurred among fully vaccinated adults, compared with 7,308 (2.03 per 100,000 person-days) among unvaccinated adults. During May 3–July 25, 2021, the overall age-adjusted vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization in New York was relatively stable (91.9%–95.3%). The overall age-adjusted vaccine effectiveness against infection for all New York adults declined from 91.7% to 79.8%.
Sustained Effectiveness of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Vaccines Against COVID-19 Associated Hospitalizations Among Adults — United States, March–July 2021
Among 1,129 patients who received 2 doses of a mRNA vaccine, no decline in vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 hospitalization was observed over 24 weeks. Vaccine effectiveness was 86% 2–12 weeks after vaccination and 84% at 13–24 weeks. Vaccine effectiveness was sustained among groups at risk for severe COVID-19. mRNA vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19–associated hospitalizations was sustained over 24 weeks; ongoing monitoring is needed as new SARS-CoV-2 variants emerge.
Controversy surrounding the Sputnik V vaccine
The Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine is a member of the so-called vector vaccines and uses two different vectors (Ad26 priming and Ad5 boost) to reduce the risk of a reduction in the effectiveness of the vaccination. Real life data indicate an efficacy of the vaccine above 97%. Low cost and no need for ultra-cold storage temperature temperatures are other pluses of the Sputnik V vaccine. However, there are also several important shortcomings that must be considered such as the possible reduction of its immunogenicity in the presence of very high Ad5 neutralizing antibody titres and the decrease with age of the antibody titres neutralizing the virus. Furthermore, there is emerging documentation that Sputnik V has a reduced neutralizing capacity against the Beta variant and all variants with the spike protein carrying the E484K substitution.
Decades-old SARS virus infection triggers potent response to COVID vaccines
[Nature News report.] People who were infected almost two decades ago with the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) generate a powerful antibody response after being vaccinated against COVID-19. Their immune systems can fight off multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants, as well as related coronaviruses found in bats and pangolins. The Singapore-based authors of a small study published today in The New England Journal of Medicine1 say the results offer hope that vaccines can be developed to protect against all new SARS-CoV-2 variants, as well as other coronaviruses that have the potential to cause future pandemics.
SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines: Where Are We Now?
There are now 289 vaccines in the development pipeline. More remarkably, there are 20 publicly available vaccines, and more than 3.3 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across 180 countries. Even at the current vaccination rate, it could take years to vaccinate the world's population; many high-income countries are focusing on their needs, whereas the poorer nations are waiting for vaccines. There is still much that we do not understand about immunity to this new disease, and we will have to contend with the emerging variants.