Effectiveness of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Vaccines Against COVID-19 Among Hospitalized Adults Aged ≥65 Years — United States, January–March 2021
Authors: Mark W. Tenforde, Samantha M. Olson, Wesley H. Self, H. Keipp Talbot, Christopher J. Lindsell, Jay S. Steingrub, Nathan I. Shapiro, Adit A. Ginde, David J. Douin, Matthew E. Prekker, Samuel M. Brown, Ithan D. Peltan, Michelle N. Gong, Amira Mohamed, Akram Khan, Matthew C. Exline, D. Clark Files, Kevin W. Gibbs, William B. Stubblefield, Jonathan D. Casey, Todd W. Rice, Carlos G. Grijalva, David N. Hager, Arber Shehu, Nida Qadir, Steven Y. Chang, Jennifer G. Wilson, Manjusha Gaglani, Kempapura Murthy, Nicole Calhoun, Arnold S. Monto, Emily T. Martin, Anurag Malani, Richard K. Zimmerman, Fernanda P. Silveira, Donald B. Middleton, Yuwei Zhu, Dayna Wyatt, Meagan Stephenson, Adrienne Baughman, Kelsey N. Womack, Kimberly W. Hart, Miwako Kobayashi, Jennifer R. Verani, Manish M. Patel, Omowunmi Amosu, Brent Armbruster, Valerie Aston, Marianne Bernardo, Robert Bowers, Leslie De Souza, Jennifer Friedel, Kevin Gardner, Jennifer Goff, Alexandra June Gordon, Audrey Hendrickson, Madeline Hicks, Michelle Howell, Jakea Johnson, Jeffrey Jorgensen, Sarah Karow, Lori Kozikowski, Olivia Krol, Leigha Landreth, Mary LaRose, Brenda Lopez, New York, Andrea Luong, Bob McClellan, Ellen Maruggi, Karen Miller, Rahul Nair, Lisa Parks, Jennifer Peers, Cynthia Perez, Adreanne Rivera, Jonasel Roque, Andres Santana, Tyler Scharber, Emma Silverman, Michael Tozier, Hiwet Tzehaie, Zachary Zouyed, Alejandro Arroliga, Alicia Bagiatis, GK Balasubramani, Caroline K. Cheng, Heather Eng, Shekhar Ghamande, Judy Herrick, Eric Hoffman, Kailey Hughes, Lois E. Lamerato, Adam S. Lauring, Amanda McKillop, Tresa McNeal, E.J. McSpadden, John Midturi, Manohar Mutnal, Mary Patricia Nowalk, Joshua G. Petrie, Chandni Raiyani, Arundhati Rao, Sean G. Saul, Theresa M. Sax, Hannah E. Segaloff, Lori Stiefel, Marcus Volz, Kimberly Walker, Nicole Wheeler, Heath White, John V. Williams, Mohamed Yassin, Martha Zayed, Tnelda Zunie
Journal: MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (2021)

Adults aged ≥65 years are at increased risk for severe outcomes from COVID-19 and were identified as a priority group to receive the first COVID-19 vaccines approved for use under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in the United States (1-3). In an evaluation at 24 hospitals in 14 states,* the effectiveness of partial or full vaccination† with Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines against COVID-19-associated hospitalization was assessed among adults aged ≥65 years. Among 417 hospitalized adults aged ≥65 years (including 187 case-patients and 230 controls), the median age was 73 years, 48% were female, 73% were non-Hispanic White, 17% were non-Hispanic Black, 6% were Hispanic, and 4% lived in a long-term care facility. Adjusted vaccine effectiveness (VE) against COVID-19-associated hospitalization among adults aged ≥65 years was estimated to be 94% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 49%-99%) for full vaccination and 64% (95% CI = 28%-82%) for partial vaccination. These findings are consistent with efficacy determined from clinical trials in the subgroup of adults aged ≥65 years (4,5). This multisite U.S. evaluation under real-world conditions suggests that vaccination provided protection against COVID-19-associated hospitalization among adults aged ≥65 years. Vaccination is a critical tool for reducing severe COVID-19 in groups at high risk.