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The reported effectiveness of vaccination against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) for protecting people from hospitalisation with symptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) is typically high, but rapidly wanes with time from vaccination. In England, protection from hospitalisation with the BA.2 SARS‐CoV‐2 variant after a booster dose peaked at 89.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 80.5–94.0%), before declining to 56.5% (95% CI, 38.4–69.3%) at fifteen weeks.

The effectiveness of vaccination for protecting Australians from hospitalisation with symptomatic COVID‐19 has not been reported. To improve knowledge of vaccine effectiveness and waning immunity in Australia, we therefore evaluated protection against hospitalisation in Central Queensland during the first quarter of 2022, immediately following the end of long term state border closures that had kept most of the population COVID‐19‐naïve.

This MJA research shares more.

Learning Outcomes

1. Explain key components of the research
2. List main findings
3. Determine the factors contributing to the efficacy of vaccination to increase patient safety and reduce hospital admissions.

Details

Authors: Nicolas R Smoll, Mahmudul Hassan Al Imam, Connie Shulz, Robert Booy and Gulam Khandaker

Article Type: Research