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Review
. 2024 Feb 12;12(2):189.
doi: 10.3390/vaccines12020189.

Impact of Pre-Infection COVID-19 Vaccination on the Incidence and Severity of Post-COVID Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Milena Adina Man  1 , Daniela Rosca  2 , Felix Bratosin  2   3 , Ovidiu Fira-Mladinescu  4   5 , Adrian Cosmin Ilie  6 , Sonia-Roxana Burtic  2   7 , Ariadna Petronela Fildan  8 , Camelia Melania Fizedean  9 , Adelina Maria Jianu  10 , Rodica Anamaria Negrean  11 , Monica Steluta Marc  4   5
Affiliations
Review

Impact of Pre-Infection COVID-19 Vaccination on the Incidence and Severity of Post-COVID Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Milena Adina Man et al. Vaccines (Basel). .

Abstract

This systematic review critically evaluated the impact of a pre-infection COVID-19 vaccination on the incidence and severity of post-COVID-19 syndrome and aimed to assess the potential protective effect across different vaccines and patient demographics. This study hypothesized that vaccination before infection substantially reduces the risk and severity of post-COVID-19 syndrome. In October 2023, a comprehensive literature search was conducted across three databases, PubMed, Embase, and Scopus, focusing on studies published up to that date. Utilizing a wide array of keywords, the search strategy adhered to the PRISMA guidelines and was registered in the Open Science Framework. The inclusion criteria comprised studies focusing on patients with a breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection who developed post-COVID-19 syndrome. We included a total of 13 articles that met the inclusion criteria, analyzing more than 10 million patients with a mean age of 50.6 years, showing that the incidence of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions post-vaccination was as low as 2.4%, with a significant reduction in mortality risk (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.58-0.74). The prevalence of post-COVID-19 syndrome symptoms was lower in vaccinated individuals (9.5%) compared to unvaccinated (14.6%), with a notable decrease in activity-limiting symptoms (adjusted OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.48-0.73). Vaccinated patients also showed a quicker recovery and return to work (HR 1.37, 95% CI 1.04-1.79). The pooled odds ratio of 0.77 indicates that vaccination is associated with a 23% reduction in the risk of developing post-COVID-19 syndrome (95% CI 0.75-0.79). Despite the protective effects observed, a substantial heterogeneity among the studies was noted. In conclusion, a pre-infection COVID-19 vaccination is associated with a significant reduction in the risk and severity of post-COVID-19 syndrome. However, the observed heterogeneity across studies suggests a need for further research with standardized methods to fully comprehend vaccine efficacy against long COVID.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; infection; long-COVID; post-COVID-19 syndrome; vaccination.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA Flow Diagram.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Funnel plot for publication bias.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Forest plot analysis of the risk for post-COVID-19 syndrome among the analyzed studies (List of included references [21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33]).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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