December 21, 2024

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COVID: Active Vaccination

BNT162b2 XBB Vaccine for COVID-19 Among Children 5-17 Years of Age
Authors evaluated the BNT162b2 XBB vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech) effectiveness in children ages 5 to 17 years during the 2023-2024 respiratory virus season in a large integrated U.S. health system. They conducted a test-negative case-control analysis to evaluate BNT162b2 XBB vaccine effectiveness against acute respiratory infection (ARI)-associated hospital admission and emergency department (ED) or urgent care visits among children ages 5 to 11 (using a 10-μg formulation) and 12 to 17 (30-μg formulation) years from October 10, 2023, through April 30, 2024, at Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC). Cases had a positive SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or antigen test during a hospital admission or ED or urgent care visit, and controls tested negative and had no evidence of a positive SARS-CoV-2 test in the prior 90 days. Of 15,233 ARI encounters among children ages 5 to 17 years meeting eligibility criteria (7.2%) tested SARS-CoV-2 positive. In the full cohort, 1125 children (7.4%) received an XBB vaccine by the end of April 2024. Among those ages 5 to 11 and 12 to 17 years, estimated adjusted BNT162b2 XBB vaccine effectiveness was 68% (95% CI, 11%-88%) and 63% (95% CI, 20%-83%) against COVID-19–associated hospital admission or ED or urgent care visits, respectively, with an overall estimated vaccine effectiveness for all 5-to-17-year–olds of 65% (95% CI, 36%-81%) (Table 2). No COVID-19–associated hospitalizations occurred among those who received BNT162b2 XBB vaccine.

COVID: The Late Phase/PASC/Long COVID

Post-acute Sequelae of COVID-19 in Cancer Patients: Two Cohorts in UK and Hong Kong
Authors looked at PASC in cancer patients. They found that Cancer patients with COVID-19 consistently showed significantly higher risk of major cardiovascular diseases in a UK and a Hong Kong Cohort (CVDs) [UKB: hazard ratio [HR] 1.8 (95% CI 1.3, 2.5); HK: HR 1.4 (95% CI 1.1, 1.8)], CVD death [UKB: HR 4.3 (95% CI 2.9, 6.2); HK: HR 1.7 (95% CI 1.3, 2.4)], and all-cause mortality [UKB: HR 4.7 (95% CI 4.0, 5.5); HK: HR 1.6 (95% CI 1.5, 1.7)]. Cancer patients at advanced ages or severely infected had higher all-cause mortality risk. However, associations between COVID-19 and CVDs became insignificant for fully vaccinated patients.