(HealthDay News) — Updated monovalent COVID-19 vaccines offer vaccine effectiveness (VE) of 54% against symptomatic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, according to research published in the Feb. 1 issue of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Ruth Link-Gelles, PhD, from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues analyzed data from the Increasing Community Access to Testing SARS-CoV-2 pharmacy testing program to estimate updated 2023 to 2024 COVID-19 VE against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection with a monovalent XBB.1.5-derived vaccine.
The researchers found that overall VE among adults aged 18 years and older was 54% at a median of 52 days after vaccination among 9,222 total eligible tests. VE at 60 to 119 days after vaccination was 49% among tests exhibiting spike gene target failure (SGTF) and 60% among tests without SGTF in a total of 2,199 tests performed at a laboratory with SGTF testing.
“Vaccination provided protection for infections caused by JN.1 and infections caused by XBB-related lineages. Waning of effectiveness is expected with additional elapsed time since vaccination, especially against less severe disease,” the authors write. “All persons aged ≥6 months should stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccination, including receiving a dose of updated vaccine.”
One author disclosed ties to Eagle Health Analytics.
