Newswise —
A recent study conducted by the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health has revealed that bivalent COVID-19 booster shots continue to offer effective protection against hospitalization and mortality, including against the latest omicron subvariants.
A recent publication in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) reported that bivalent COVID-19 booster shots were found to be 67% effective in preventing hospitalization and death among individuals who had previously received vaccination or booster doses. However, the effectiveness decreased over time, with rates of 48% after four weeks, 44% after 10 weeks, and 38% after 20 weeks.
While the Pfizer and Moderna bivalent vaccines were originally developed to address the BA.4 and BA.5 variants of the omicron variant, recent research has shown that they also provide significant protection against other circulating strains such as BQ.1/BQ.1.1 and XBB/XBB.1.5, reducing the risks of infection, hospitalization, and mortality.
"The effectiveness reported in our study specifically refers to the added benefit of receiving an additional dose, such as the first booster compared to primary vaccination only, second booster compared to first booster, or third booster compared to second booster," explained Dr. Danyu Lin, lead author of the study and Dennis Gillings Distinguished Professor of Biostatistics. "It's important to note that the effectiveness of bivalent boosters, when compared to being unvaccinated, would likely be much higher." Dr. Lin also highlighted that the study's findings were encouraging as the bivalent vaccines being developed this year are expected to be deployed against variants that may emerge in the future.
The research team involved in this study comprised of esteemed members, including Yangjianchen Xu and Yu Gu, who are both doctoral students in biostatistics, as well as Donglin Zeng, PhD, a professor of biostatistics at the Gillings School. Additionally, the team included Shadia Khan Sunny, PhD, MPH, MBBS, who is a senior epidemiologist, and Zack Moore, MD, MPH, who serves as the state epidemiologist at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Their collective expertise and contribution greatly enriched the study's findings.
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