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Observational Study
. 2022 Jun:119:69-76.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2022.03.028. Epub 2022 Mar 22.

Waning COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness for BNT162b2 and CoronaVac in Malaysia: An Observational Study

Jing Lian Suah  1 , Masliyana Husin  2 , Peter Seah Keng Tok  3 , Boon Hwa Tng  3 , Thevesh Thevananthan  4 , Ee Vien Low  3 , Maheshwara Rao Appannan  4 , Faizah Muhamad Zin  5 , Shahanizan Mohd Zin  5 , Hazlina Yahaya  4 , Kalaiarasu M Peariasamy  3 , Sheamini Sivasampu  3
Affiliations
Observational Study

Waning COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness for BNT162b2 and CoronaVac in Malaysia: An Observational Study

Jing Lian Suah et al. Int J Infect Dis. 2022 Jun.

Abstract

Objectives: We aimed to investigate and compare waning vaccine effectiveness (VE) against COVID-19 infection, COVID-19 related ICU admission, and COVID-19-related death for BNT162b2 and CoronaVac vaccines.

Methods: We consolidated national data on COVID-19 vaccination and outcomes, and used cases from September 1st-30th, 2021 to compare VE between the 'early' (fully vaccinated in April-June 2021) and 'late' (July-August 2021) groups. We estimated VE against COVID-19 infection with a negative binomial regression and VE against ICU admission and death among confirmed COVID-19 cases with a logistic regression.

Results: For BNT162b2, VE against COVID-19 infections declined from 90.8% (95% CI 89.4, 92.1) in the 'late' group to 79.3% (95% CI 76.1, 82.1) in the 'early' group. VE for BNT162b2 against ICU admission and death were stable. For CoronaVac, VE waned against COVID-19 infections from 74.5% (95% CI 70.6, 78.0) to 30.4% (95% CI 18.8, 40.3). Effectiveness against ICU admission waned from 56.0% (95% CI 51.2, 60.2) to 28.7% (95% CI 12.2, 42.1). CoronaVac's effectiveness against death remained stable.

Conclusion: VE against COVID-19 infection waned after 3-5 months of full vaccination for both BNT162b2 and CoronaVac vaccines in Malaysia. For CoronaVac, protection against ICU admission also declined.

Keywords: COVID-19 Vaccines; Effectiveness; Malaysia; SARS-CoV-2; Waning.

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Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1
Study participants and cohort eligibility for the retrospective population cohort using census data, and the retrospective cohort of confirmed COVID-19 cases. (a) Individuals who were fully vaccinated with homologous CoronaVac or BNT162b2 between April 1st, 2021 and August 31st, 2021, aged ≥15, had no confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections prior to the outcomes observation period (September 1st, 2021 to September 30th, 2021). (b) Confirmed COVID-19 cases between September 1st, 2021 and September 30th, 2021, aged ≥18, with no prior confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections, and fully vaccinated with homologous BNT162b2 and CoronaVac fully vaccinated (14 days after dose 2) between April 1st, 2021 and August 31st, 2021, or unvaccinated.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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