Cancer patients were less likely to end up in hospital due to COVID-19 if they received a booster vaccine, according to a US study. Because people with cancer are especially at risk of severe COVID-19, the researchers investigated how receiving a booster vaccine before 2022 or a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine between September 2022 and August 2023 influenced COVID-19-related hospitalisations. The researchers say the original booster was 29.2% effective at reducing hospitalisations, with one hospitalisation likely prevented for every 166 people vaccinated. The bivalent booster was 29.9% effective, the researchers estimate, preventing one hospitalisation for every 451 people vaccinated.
Journal/conference: JAMA Oncology
Research: Paper
Organisation/s: Kaiser Permanente Northern California, USA
About The Study: In this retrospective cohort study, COVID-19 booster vaccinations were associated with significant protection against severe COVID-19, with a favorable number needed to vaccinate among persons with cancer. However, uptake of COVID-19 vaccine boosters was low, and interventions are therefore justified to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake in this high-risk population.
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