Recent COVID-19 Vaccine Offers 54% More Protection: A Closer Look at the Data

The latest on COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness

The most recent COVID-19 vaccination is making waves in the medical community, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealing that the vaccine provides 54% protection against symptoms compared to unvaccinated Americans. This promising data was derived from an analysis of 9,222 COVID tests, indicating that the vaccine is associated with lower chances of developing serious illness, requiring hospitalization, or dying from COVID-19.

Protection against multiple COVID-19 Variants

The vaccine has proven effective against multiple COVID-19 variants, including the XBB and JN.1 variants. These variants have been prevalent recently, with the JN.1 variant becoming predominant in the U.S. in January 2023, according to the CDC. The vaccine was initially designed to target the XBB.1.5 variant, demonstrating its versatility in combating different strains of the virus.

Study Findings and Implications

The analysis, led by Ruth Link-Gelles, plans to release more detailed data on the vaccine’s impact on emergency room visits, urgent care visits, and hospitalizations in the coming weeks. Preliminary findings underscore the importance of getting vaccinated, especially for people at higher risk of complications from COVID-19. Given that only 21% of people over age 18 and 41% of those over age 65 have received this latest vaccine, there is significant room to increase vaccine coverage and better protect our communities.

Vaccine Recommendations

The CDC recommends this updated COVID-19 vaccination for all individuals aged 6 months and older. This advice is based on the vaccine providing approximately 54% increased protection against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, compared to no vaccination. Despite the high levels of COVID-19 circulation in the U.S., as suggested by wastewater data, there is a low uptake of the latest vaccine, with only about 1 in 5 adults and 1 in 9 children receiving it.

Looking into the Future of COVID-19 Vaccines

On another exciting front, research conducted by Meiji Seika Pharma in Japan compared the effectiveness of a self-amplifying messenger RNA (sa mRNA) COVID-19 vaccine, ARCT-154, with a conventional mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnaty). The study found that ARCT-154 induced a longer immune response and had better antibody persistence compared to Comirnaty for both the original Wuhan strain and the Omicron BA 4 5 variant. These findings indicate the potential of sa mRNA to provide prolonged protection against COVID-19 at lower doses, opening new avenues in our fight against this global pandemic.