Vaccine effective against emergency department and urgent care encounters, hospitalizations, critical illness<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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WEDNESDAY, July 2, 2025 (HealthDay News) — The 2023 to 2024 COVID-19 vaccine provided additional effectiveness against medically attended COVID-19, according to a study published online June 24 in JAMA Network Open<\/em>.<\/p>\n Ruth Link-Gelles, Ph.D., M.P.H., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues conducted a case-control study to examine the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of 2023 to 2024 (monovalent XBB.1.5) COVID-19 vaccines against COVID-19-associated emergency department (ED) and urgent care (UC) encounters, hospitalizations, and critical illness among adults during periods of Omicron XBB and JN.1 predominance.<\/p>\n The researchers found that 37,096 (11 percent) of 345,639 eligible ED and UC encounters in immunocompetent adults with COVID-19-like illness and available test results had a positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) result. During seven to 299 days after vaccination, VE against COVID-19-associated ED and UC encounters was 24 percent. Nine percent of 111,931 eligible hospitalizations in immunocompetent adults with COVID-19-like illness and available test results had a positive SARS-CoV-2 test result. VE was 29 and 48 percent against COVID-19-associated hospitalization and critical illness, respectively, during seven to 299 days after vaccination. VE was highest at seven to 59 days after vaccination (VE: 49, 51, and 68 percent against ED and UC encounters, hospitalizations, and critical illness, respectively) and then waned (VE at 180 to 299 days after vaccination, \u22127, \u22124, and 16 percent, respectively).<\/p>\n “The 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccines were associated with additional protection against COVID-19-associated ED and UC encounters, hospitalization, and critical illness beyond existing protection provided by prior vaccination or SARS-CoV-2 infection,” the authors write.<\/p>\n Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n