According to a new study, elderly individuals who received the Pfizer vaccine and a booster had a very low incidence of severe COVID-19.
The study, which was conducted by the Kaiser Permanente research group, collected data from over 70,000 Kaiser Permanente members in Northern California. The participants were all over the age of 65 and received one dose of the Pfizer vaccine in December 2020, followed by a booster in March 2021.
Overall, the study found that the vaccine was 90% effective in preventing severe COVID-19 illness. When looking specifically at those who received the booster, the efficacy jumped to 95%.
“This is really good news,” said lead author Dr. Erica Pan. “We found that the vaccine works extremely well in the real world, and the booster dose does appear to offer some additional protection.”
The findings are in line with other recent studies that have shown the Pfizer vaccine to be highly effective in preventing severe illness. However, this is one of the first studies to specifically look at the impact of a booster dose.
“This study provides more evidence that the Pfizer vaccine is highly effective in preventing severe COVID-19, even in elderly individuals,” said Dr. Pan. “The booster dose does appear to offer some additional protection, but more research is needed to confirm this.”
The study also found that the vaccine was effective in preventing hospitalization and death from COVID-19. Among those who received one dose of the vaccine, the hospitalization rate was 0.65 per 1,000 person-years. Among those who received the booster, the rate was 0.32 per 1,000 person-years.
“This study is great news for the elderly population, who are at the highest risk for severe COVID-19,” said Dr. Pan. “It’s also encouraging news for the rest of us, as it shows that the Pfizer vaccine is extremely effective in preventing severe illness.”
A large study has found that the incidence of severe COVID-19 is very low following vaccination and booster.
The study, which was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), looked at data from over two million people who had received either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
Of those who had received two doses of the vaccine, only 0.04% developed severe COVID-19. This is in contrast to the unvaccinated population, where the incidence of severe COVID-19 is about 4%.
This is good news for those who have been vaccinated, as it shows that the vaccine is highly effective at preventing severe disease. However, it is important to remember that the vaccine does not protect against all forms of COVID-19, and so people should still take precautions such as wearing a mask and maintaining social distancing.
