Vaccine effective against emergency department and urgent care encounters, hospitalizations, critical illness
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
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.
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.
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, −7, −4, and 16 percent, respectively).
“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.
Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
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