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COVID-19 Roundup: Vaccines, Preexisting Conditions

Preexisting Conditions1

Results of a new study have linked the majority of COVID-19 hospitalizations in US adults to 1 of 4 preexisting conditions: obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and heart failure.

The researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2015 to 2018 and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Coronavirus Disease 2019–Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network database and COVID Tracking Project to examine and estimate the relationship between COVID-19 hospitalization and major cardiometabolic conditions.

Of an estimated 906,849 hospitalizations in the US, 20.5% were attributable to diabetes, 30.2% to obesity, 26.2% to hypertension, and 11.7% to heart failure. Overall, 63.5% of all estimated hospitalizations were due to 1 of these 4 conditions.

“These results can help inform public health prevention strategies to reduce COVID‐19 healthcare burdens,” the researchers concluded.

J&J Vaccine2

The US Food and Drug Administration has reported that a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is roughly 66% effective at preventing moderate to severe COVID-19 and roughly 85% effective against the most severe forms of the illness in the US. It has also been shown to be highly effective in South Africa and Brazil.

The most common adverse reactions included injection site pain, headache, fatigue, and myalgia, and several serious adverse events, including a case of hypersensitivity reaction and a case of severe systemic reactogenicity were reported.

Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine3

According to the results of a recent real-world study, the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccine is 90% effective 7 or more days following administration of the second dose.

The researchers used data from 596,618 individuals from Israel’s largest health care organization who were vaccinated from December 20, 2020 to February 1, 2021, matched with unvaccinated controls by demographic and clinical characteristics.

Overall, the vaccine’s estimated effectiveness at 7 or more days after the second dose was 92% for documented infection, 94% for symptomatic COVID-19, 87% for hospitalization, and 92% for severe disease.

“This study in a nationwide mass vaccination setting suggests that the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine is effective for a wide range of Covid-19–related outcomes, a finding consistent with that of the randomized trial,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

References:

  1. O’Hearn M, Liu J, Cudhea F, et al. Coronavirus disease 2019 hospitalizations attributable to cardiometabolic conditions in the United States: a comparative risk assessment analysis. Published online February 25, 2021. JAHA. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.120.019259
  2. Neergaard L, Perrone M. FDA says single-dose shot from J&J prevents severe COVID. Associated Press. Published February 24, 2021. Accessed February 25, 2021. https://apnews.com/article/fda-j-and-j-vaccine-shot-prevent-covid-6928a9a08526d036a9f8197149c80f06
  3. Dagan N, Barda N, Kepten E, et al. BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 vaccine in a nationwide mass vaccination setting. NEJM. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2101765