COVID-19 vaccines are highly protective against hospitalization, death: Study

Current COVID-19 shots provide a high level of protection against hospitalization and death, according to a summary of the efficacy of eight vaccines that showed the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE jab may better at stopping at least two worrisome coronavirus variants.

Efficacy against COVID-linked disease averaged about 85 percent after a full course, rising to almost 100 percent protection against severe disease, hospitalization, or death, Julia Shapiro, Natalie Dean, Ira Longini, and colleagues said in a paper released Friday before peer-review and publication.

The University of Florida researchers compared data from journal articles and media reports for products that have gone through double-blinded, placebo-controlled, late-stage vaccine trials, as well as observational studies.

“These estimates should be useful for constructing mathematical models for vaccination impact and for making policy decisions involving vaccination,” they said. They plan to update their research, which received funding from the US National Institutes of Health, as more information becomes available.

The unprecedented speed with which safe and effective vaccines have been developed and rolled out across the world has enabled many economies to reopen, paving the way for a recovery from the worst pandemic in a century. Still, the uncontrolled spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus risks spawning new variants that may undermine the potency of these immunizations.