(HealthDay)—Among adults aged 65 years and older, vaccination is associated with a reduced risk for COVID-19-associated hospitalization, according to research published in the April 28 early-release issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Mark W. Tenforde, M.D., Ph.D., from the CDC COVID-19 Response Team, and colleagues examined the effectiveness of partial or full vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines against COVID-19-associated hospitalization among adults aged 65 years and older in an evaluation at 24 hospitals in 14 states. Data were obtained for 417 adults aged 65 years and older hospitalized with COVID-19-like illness (187 case patients with one or more positive test results for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 [SARS-CoV-2] and 230 controls with negative SARS-CoV-2 test results). Estimates of vaccine effectiveness were calculated by comparing the odds of vaccination in case-patients and controls.

The researchers found that of the 187 case patients, 19 (10 percent) had received at least one dose of vaccine 14 days or more before illness onset (18 partially vaccinated and one fully vaccinated) compared with 62 (27 percent) of the 230 controls (including 44 and 18 who were partially and fully vaccinated, respectively). The adjusted vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19-associated hospitalization was estimated at 94 and 64 percent for full and partial vaccination, respectively.

“These data suggest that continuing to rapidly vaccinate U.S. adults against COVID-19 will likely have a marked impact on COVID-19 hospitalization and might lead to commensurate reductions in post-COVID conditions and deaths,” the authors write.

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