Investigation of the changes in the general characteristics of COVID19 patients with the vaccination program

Abstract Introduction After the onset of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many vaccine studies have started. With the start of the vaccination program in Turkey, changes in the demographic characteristics of the patients hospitalized from the emergency room to the intensive care unit due to COVID-19 caught our attention. This study aims to investigate whether this observation we made is scientifically meaningful. Thus, it will be helpful to investigate the effect of priority ordering in vaccination programs in other pandemics that may occur later. Materials & Methods Demographic characteristics and hospitalization processes of patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit before and after vaccination were compared. Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and Acute Physiologic Assessment and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) scores as well as intensive care unit length of stay and mortality were used for comparison. Results While age [mean (SD); 70,8 (12,2) vs 66,2 (15,2), p=0,032] and duration of intensive care stay [day; mean (SD); 6,4 (6,3) vs 9,4 (7,4); p

___

  • who.int [internet]. World Health Organization (WHO) Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard; c2021. https://covid19.who.int/ [Accessed: 30.01.2022]
  • Haas EJ, Angulo FJ, McLaughlin JM, et al. Impact and effectiveness of mRNA BNT162b2 vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 infections and COVID-19 cases, hospitalisations, and deaths following a nationwide vaccination campaign in Israel: an observational study using national surveillance data. The Lancet. 2021, 397(10287), 1819-1829. doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00947-8
  • Polack F, Thomas S, Kitchin N, et al. Safety and Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine. New England Journal of Medicine. 2020, 383(27). doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2034577
  • Shim E. Projecting the impact of SARS-CoV-2 variants and the vaccination program on the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021. 18(14), 7578. doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18147578
  • Alencar, CH, Cavalcanti LPdG, Almeida MMd, et al. Effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines in Reducing COVID-19-Related Deaths in over 75-Year-Olds, Ceará State, Brazil. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease. 2021. 6, 129. doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed6030129. doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed6030129
  • Victora PC, Castro P, Gurzenda S, et al. Estimating the early impact of vaccination against COVID-19 on deaths among elderly people in Brazil: Analyses of routinely-collected data on vaccine coverage and mortality. EClinicalMedicine. 2021. 38, 101036. doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.101036
  • Haas EJ, McLaughlin JM, Khan F, et al. Infections, hospitalisations, and deaths averted via a nationwide vaccination campaign using the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in Israel: a retrospective surveillance study. The Lancet. Infectious diseases. 2021. S1473-3099(21)00566-1. doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(21)00566-1. doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(21)00566-1
  • Rzymski P, Pazgan-Simon M, Simon K, et al. Clinical Characteristics of Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients Who Received at Least One Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine. Vaccines. 2021. 9(7), 781. doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9070781
  • Bahl A, Johnson S, Maine G, et al. Vaccination reduces need for emergency care in breakthrough COVID-19 infections: A multicenter cohort study. Lancet Reg Health Am. 2021 Dec;4:100065. doi: 10.1016/j.lana.2021.100065
  • Mhawish H, Mady A, Alaklobi F, Aletreby W, Asad T, Alodat M, Alharthy A, Abdulrahman B, Almahwi S, Memish ZA. Comparison of severity of immunized versus non-immunized COVID-19 patients admitted to ICU: A prospective observational study. Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2021 Nov;71:102951. doi: 10.1016/j.amsu.2021.102951. Epub 2021 Oct 15. PMID: 34667593; PMCID: PMC8518130.