New York, Oct. 30 (BUS) – The Associated Press (AP) reported that health officials on Friday provided more evidence that vaccinations provide better protection against COVID-19 than immunity from a previous infection.
In a new study, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that unvaccinated people who were infected several months earlier were five times more likely to develop COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people who had no previous infection.
“These data show, powerfully, that vaccines are more protective against COVID symptoms,” said Dr. Mike Sage, an infectious disease expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham who was not involved in the study.
The study looked at data from nearly 190 hospitals in nine states. Researchers counted nearly 7,000 adult patients hospitalized this year with respiratory illnesses or symptoms similar to those of COVID-19.
About 6,000 of them were fully vaccinated with Moderna or Pfizer vaccines three to six months before the end of their hospital life. The other thousand were not immune but contracted COVID-19 three to six months ago.
About 5% of vaccinated patients tested positive for MERS-CoV versus about 9% of the unvaccinated group. The researchers took into account other data points, including age and the amount of virus circulating in different areas, to calculate that the unvaccinated group was at greater risk.
The study echoes some previous research, including studies that found higher levels of infection-fighting antibodies in vaccinated patients.
Sag described the research as good and convincing. He also said it’s important information for parents as the government prepares to expand its vaccination campaign to include more children.
“There were many people who advocated, ‘Okay, let’s just let the kids get infected. “I think this data supports the idea that vaccines generally work better, and likely work best for children between the ages of 5 and 11.
The authors said there was not enough data to draw any conclusions about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
AOQ