The Preventive Role of mRNA Vaccines in Reducing Death among Moderate Omicron-Infected Patients: A Follow-Up Study

Abstract

Very few studies have been conducted to assess the potential preventive role of vaccines, particularly mRNA vaccines, in the improvement of survival among moderate and severe hospitalized patients with COVID-19. After community-acquired outbreaks of the Omicron variant from 18 March until 31 May 2022, occurred in Taiwan, this retrospective cohort of 4090 moderate and 1378 severe patients admitted to hospital was classified according to whether they were administered an mRNA-based vaccine, and followed up to ascertain rates of death in both the vaccinated (≥2 doses) and unvaccinated (no or 1 dose) groups. The age-adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of less than 1 was used to assess the preventive role of mRNA vaccines in reducing deaths among moderate and severe Omicron-infected patients. Survival was statistically significantly better for the ≥2 dose jab group (aHR, 0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.60 to 0.94) and even higher among those who had received a booster jab (aHR, 0.71;95% CI, 0.55 to 0.91) compared with the unvaccinated group among moderate patients, but not among severe patients. In conclusion, unveiling the role of mRNA vaccines in preventing moderate but not severe COVID-19 patients from death provides new insights into how mRNA vaccines play a role in the pathway leading to a severe outcome due to Omicron COVID-19.