ArticleBMC infectious diseases2022
High vaccine effectiveness against severe COVID-19 in the elderly in Finland before and after the emergence of Omicron.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Long-term effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against infections, hospitalisations, and mortality in adults: findings from a rapid living systematic evidence synthesis and meta-analysis up to December, 2022.The Lancet. Respiratory medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Comparison of the Effectiveness and Safety of Heterologous Booster Doses with Homologous Booster Doses for SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Utilisation of primary healthcare services by patients with hypertension before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in Turku, Finland-are digital services creating disparity?Scandinavian journal of public health · 2026Article
- Comparative duration of neutralizing responses and protections of COVID-19 vaccination and correlates of protection.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Tracking vaccine effectiveness in an evolving pandemic, countering misleading hot takes and epidemiologic fallacies.American journal of epidemiology · 2025Article
- Quantifying the direct and indirect components of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness during the Delta variant era.Epidemiology and infection · 2025Article
- Article
- Impact of vaccination and SARS-CoV-2 variants on severe COVID-19 outcomes: a cross-sectional study, Brazil, 2021-2022.Epidemiologia e servicos de saude : revista do Sistema Unico de Saude do Brasil · 2025Article
- Relative effectiveness of bivalent boosters against severe COVID-19 outcomes among people aged ≥ 65 years in Finland, September 2022 to August 2023.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2024Article
- The impact of the COVID-19 vaccination programme on symptomatic and severe SARS-CoV-2 infection during a period of Omicron variant dominance in Ireland, December 2021 to March 2023.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2024Observational
- Population-Based Evaluation of Vaccine Effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 Infection, Severe Illness, and Death, Taiwan.Emerging infectious diseases · 2024Observational
- COVID-19 vaccine coverage effectiveness among elderly with geographical information system mapping: what about Indonesia?Therapeutic advances in vaccines and immunotherapy · 2024Article
- Vaccination status and outcomes in critical COVID-19 patients.Jornal brasileiro de pneumologia : publicacao oficial da Sociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e Tisilogia · 2024Observational
- Article
- Protection of homologous and heterologous boosters after primary schemes of rAd26-rAd5, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 and BBIBP-CorV during the omicron outbreak in adults of 50 years and older in Argentina: a test-negative case-control study.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2023Article
- Antibody Response After the Third SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients and People Living With HIV (COVERALL-2).Open forum infectious diseases · 2023Article
- Comparison of the clinical characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 Delta (B.1.617.2) and Omicron (B.1.1.529) infected patients from a single hospitalist service.BMC infectious diseases · 2023Article
- Comparative effectiveness of heterologous third dose vaccine schedules against severe covid-19 during omicron predominance in Nordic countries: population based cohort analyses.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2023Article
- Have Diagnostics, Therapies, and Vaccines Made the Difference in the Pandemic Evolution of COVID-19 in Comparison with "Spanish Flu"?Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Real-world effectiveness of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in the elderly during the Delta and Omicron variants: Systematic review.World journal of meta-analysis · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe elderly are highly vulnerable to severe COVID-19. Waning immunity and emergence of Omicron have caused concerns about reduced effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. The objective was to estimate vaccine effectiveness (VE) against severe COVID-19 among the elderly.
methodsThis nationwide, register-based cohort analysis included all residents aged 70 years and over in Finland. The follow-up started on December 27, 2020, and ended on March 31, 2022. The outcomes of interest were COVID-19-related hospitalization and intensive care unit (ICU) admission timely associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. VE was estimated as one minus the hazard ratio comparing the vaccinated and unvaccinated and taking into account time since vaccination. Omicron-specific VE was evaluated as the effectiveness observed since January 1, 2022.
resultsThe cohort included 896,220 individuals. Comirnaty (BioNTech/Pfizer) VE against COVID-19-related hospitalization was 93% (95% CI 89-95%) and 85% (95% CI 82-87%) 14-90 and 91-180 days after the second dose; VE increased to 95% (95% CI 94-96%) 14-60 days after the third dose. VE of other homologous and heterologous three dose series was similar. Protection against severe COVID-19 requiring ICU treatment was even better. Since January 1, 2022, Comirnaty VE was 98% (95% CI 92-99%) and 92% (95% CI 87-95%) 14-90 and 91-180 days after the second and 98% (95% CI 95-99%) 14-60 days after the third dose.
conclusionsVE against severe COVID-19 is high among the elderly. It waned slightly after two doses, but a third restored the protection. VE against severe COVID-19 remained high even after the emergence of Omicron.
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