Unvaccinated people 11 times more likely to die of COVID-19

People who were not fully vaccinated this spring and summer were more than 10 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 11 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than those who were fully vaccinated, according to one of three major studies published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A second study showed the Moderna vaccine was moderately more effective in preventing hospitalizations than its counterparts produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson. That assessment was based on the largest U.S. study to date of the real-world effectiveness of all three vaccines, involving about 32,000 patients seen in hospitals, emergency departments and urgent care clinics across nine states from June through early August.

While the three vaccines were collectively 86 percent effective in preventing hospitalization, protection was significantly higher among Moderna vaccine recipients (95 percent) than among those who got Pfizer-BioNTech (80 percent) or Johnson & Johnson (60 percent). That finding echoes a smaller study by the Mayo Clinic Health System in August, not yet peer-reviewed, which also showed the Moderna vaccine with higher effectiveness than Pfizer-BioNTech at preventing infections during the delta wave.

Noting the effectiveness of all vaccines against severe illness and death, public health officials have continued to urge people to get whatever vaccine is available, rather than to shop around and delay inoculation.

“The bottom line is this: We have the scientific tools we need to turn the corner on this pandemic,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said at a White House COVID-19 briefing Friday. “Vaccination works and will protect us from the severe complications of COVID-19.”

The CDC studies offer some clarity in a confusing moment in the pandemic amid concerns about waning immunity and the vaccines’ protection against a more contagious variant. The data are broadly consistent with findings from other studies: The vaccines continue to provide strong protection for most people against hospitalization and death, even during this delta surge, but are less effective in protecting adults in the highest age brackets, especially those with underlying medical conditions.

The highly transmissible delta variant now accounts for more than 99 percent of new coronavirus infections, the CDC estimates. Fear of waning protection against severe disease is why the administration hopes to roll out boosters as soon as health authorities give the green light. Pfizer is in line to be the first brand approved as a booster by the Food and Drug Administration since the company has submitted data on the safety and effectiveness of boosting its own two-shot regimen with a third shot of the same vaccine. Approval of the other vaccines is expected to follow in coming months.