Booster uptake lacking despite data showing efficacy
Only about one-third of adults have received the booster aimed at the Omicron variant, which remains highly transmissible.
Photo: lechatoir/Getty Images
While data shows that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, a paucity of Americans are getting booster shots so far this fall, according to statistics released by the HHS Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
Previous ASPE research estimated that county-level primary COVID-19 vaccination rates through May 2021 were linked to reductions in mortality and hospitalizations among Medicare beneficiaries. During 2021, the agency found that the largest vaccine-related reductions in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths occurred during the summer Delta surge.
The group's model suggests vaccinations were associated with an estimated 670,000–680,000 fewer hospitalizations and 330,000–370,000 fewer deaths among all Medicare beneficiaries through the end of 2021. This represents a 39 to 47% reduction in these outcomes.
Yet only about one-third of adults have received the booster aimed at the Omicron variant, which remains highly transmissible.
This is concerning not just for patients and their health outcomes, but for the healthcare industry itself: Reductions in COVID-19 hospitalizations were associated with an estimated savings of roughly $16.5 billion in direct hospitalization costs, a sixfold increase in savings compared to an earlier analysis.
In the absence of any COVID-19 vaccinations in 2021, the ASPE estimates that there would have been more than 1.7 million COVID-19 hospitalizations and 700,000 deaths among the 64 million Medicare beneficiaries in 2021.
Reductions in hospitalization and deaths linked to vaccination rates occurred in all racial and ethnic groups and in all 50 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, data showed.
WHAT'S THE IMPACT?
Recently, the Food and Drug Administration authorized, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommended, the use of an updated COVID-19 vaccine designed for the Omicron variant most prevalent in the U.S.
Following the FDA and CDC action, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra issued a directive to ensure the updated vaccines are widely available. The Biden Administration has outlined a plan to get Americans an updated COVID-19 vaccine shot this fall.
THE LARGER TREND
The FDA in August amended the emergency use authorizations of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines to authorize updated boosters to combat Omicron subvariants.
The FDA approved bivalent formulations of the vaccines for use as a single booster dose at least two months following primary or booster vaccination. The bivalent vaccines are updated boosters containing components of the original strain of SARS-CoV-2, plus the BA.4 and BA.5 lineages of the omicron variant, the FDA said.
The authorized bivalent COVID-19 vaccines, or updated boosters, include an mRNA component of the original strain to provide an immune response that is broadly protective against COVID-19 and an mRNA component in common between the Omicron variant BA.4 and BA.5 lineages to provide better protection against COVID-19 caused by the Omicron variant.
The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, bivalent, is authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 18 years of age and older. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, bivalent, is authorized for use as a single booster dose in those 12 years of age and older.
People who receive the updated booster may experience side effects commonly reported by those who received the original vaccine.
ON THE RECORD
"This report reaffirms what we have said all along: COVID-19 vaccines save lives and prevent hospitalizations," said Becerra. "We now have updated COVID vaccines designed to protect you against the Omicron strain of COVID that makes up almost all COVID cases in the U.S. The Biden-Harris Administration has ensured that updated vaccines are available at tens of thousands of locations nationwide. Over 90% of Americans live within five miles of where they can access these vaccines for free. I urge everyone eligible to get an updated COVID vaccine to protect yourself ahead of the fall and winter."
Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: jeff.lagasse@himssmedia.com
