Impact of COVID-19 vaccines on mortality in England
Impact of COVID-19 vaccines on mortality in England: December 2020 to March 2021
By the end of March 2021, it is estimated that 9,100 deaths were averted in individuals aged 80 years and older, 1,200 in individuals aged 70 to 79 and 100 in individuals aged 60 to 69 years giving a total of 10,400 deaths averted in individuals aged 60 years or older.
Public Health England vaccine effectiveness report: March 2021
Analysis of routine testing data continues to show a vaccine effect against symptomatic COVID19 from either vaccine in those aged 70 year and over, for whom the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of a single dose reaches ~ 60%. SIREN continues to show high protection against any COVID-19 infection in health care workers with no decline in protection after a single dose beyond 56 days. we find that among those who develop symptomatic infection, risk of hospitalisation is reduced by 35 to 45% after one dose of either vaccine. Combined with the reduced risk of becoming a case, this is consistent with a vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation which is similar to previously reported value of 80%. Data continue to show encouraging effects from a single dose of the Pfizer vaccination on risk of mortality in symptomatic cases over 80 who have been vaccinated, where the risk of death is reduced by 54%. Combined with the reduced risk of becoming a case, this is consistent with a vaccine effectiveness against mortality which is similar to previously reported value of 85%.
Pandemic moves and countermoves: vaccines and viral variants
The two desirable effects of COVID-19 vaccines are to prevent severe disease to reduce mortality and alleviate the strain on health systems, and to prevent infection and transmission in order to stop the pandemic. Most of the vaccines in use appear to retain meaningful efficacy in preventing severe disease caused by some of the emerging strains. However, the extent to which prevention of infection and spread is affected receives less attention. In this respect, the low efficacy in preventing asymptomatic infections with the B.1.1.7 variant reported by Emary and colleagues might be concerning, especially in combination with observed higher viral loads in these vaccinees compared with vaccinees infected with other variants.
BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine Effectiveness among Health Care Workers
From the beginning of the epidemic through January 31, 2021, of the 6680 health care workers, 689 (10.3%) were infected, mostly due to exposure to Covid-19 in the community; the trends in incidence among health care workers were similar to that in the Jerusalem population. Vaccination with two doses of the Pfizer–BioNtech vaccine, given 21 days apart, began on December 20, 2020. We collected data regarding the vaccine status of health care workers and the infections that occurred among them. Among the vaccinated workers, the weekly incidence of Covid-19 since the first dose declined notably after the second week; the incidence of infection continued to decrease dramatically and then remained low after the fourth week.
Preliminary Findings of mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine Safety in Pregnant Persons
A total of 35,691 v-safe participants 16 to 54 years of age identified as pregnant. Injection-site pain was reported more frequently among pregnant persons than among nonpregnant women, whereas headache, myalgia, chills, and fever were reported less frequently. Among 3958 participants enrolled in the v-safe pregnancy registry, 827 had a completed pregnancy, of which 115 (13.9%) resulted in a pregnancy loss and 712 (86.1%) resulted in a live birth (mostly among participants with vaccination in the third trimester). Adverse neonatal outcomes included preterm birth (in 9.4%) and small size for gestational age (in 3.2%); no neonatal deaths were reported. Although not directly comparable, calculated proportions of adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcomes in persons vaccinated against Covid-19 who had a completed pregnancy were similar to incidences reported in studies involving pregnant women that were conducted before the Covid-19 pandemic.