Abstract and Introduction
Introduction
COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, as well as severe COVID-19–associated outcomes in real-world conditions.[1,2] The risks for SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19–associated hospitalization are lower among fully vaccinated than among unvaccinated persons; this reduction is even more pronounced among those who have received additional or booster doses (boosters).[3,4] Although the B.1.1.529 (Omicron) variant spreads more rapidly than did earlier SARS-CoV-2 variants, recent studies suggest that disease severity is lower for Omicron compared with that associated with the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant; but the high volume of infections is straining the health care system more than did previous waves*,†.[5] The Los Angeles County (LAC) Department of Public Health (LACDPH) used COVID-19 surveillance and California Immunization Registry 2 (CAIR2) data to describe age-adjusted 14-day cumulative incidence and hospitalization rates during November 7, 2021–January 8, 2022, by COVID-19 vaccination status and variant predominance. For the 14-day period ending December 11, 2021, the last week of Delta predominance, the incidence and hospitalization rates among unvaccinated persons were 12.3 and 83.0 times, respectively, those of fully vaccinated persons with a booster and 3.8 and 12.9 times, respectively, those of fully vaccinated persons without a booster. These rate ratios were lower during Omicron predominance (week ending January 8, 2022), with unvaccinated persons having infection and hospitalization rates 3.6 and 23.0 times, respectively, those of fully vaccinated persons with a booster and 2.0 and 5.3 times, respectively, those of fully vaccinated persons without a booster. In addition, during the entire analytic period, admission to intensive care units (ICUs), intubation for mechanical ventilation, and death were more likely to occur among unvaccinated persons than among fully vaccinated persons without or with a booster (p<0.001). Incidence and hospitalization rates were consistently highest for unvaccinated persons and lowest for fully vaccinated persons with a booster. Being up to date with COVID-19 vaccination is critical to protecting against SARS-CoV-2 infection and associated hospitalization.
LACDPH conducted a cross-sectional analysis of LAC residents aged ≥18 years with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (a positive SARS-CoV-2 result from a nucleic acid amplification or antigen test) during November 7, 2021–January 8, 2022.§ Persons were considered fully vaccinated ≥14 days after receipt of the final dose in the primary series of a BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech), mRNA-1273 (Moderna), or Ad.26.COV2.S (Janssen [Johnson & Johnson]) vaccine and considered unvaccinated if <14 days had elapsed since receipt of the first dose in the primary series of an mRNA or Janssen vaccine or if no matching immunization record was found in CAIR2.¶ Fully vaccinated persons who received a booster were considered fully vaccinated with a booster ≥14 days after the date of the booster.** Infections occurring in partially vaccinated persons (persons who had received the first dose in a 2-dose series >14 days earlier, but who were either missing a second dose or <14 days had elapsed since receipt of the second dose) were excluded because of small sample size.†† COVID-19–associated hospitalizations were defined as hospital admissions occurring ≤14 days after the first laboratory-confirmed positive SARS-CoV-2 test result.[6] Whole genome sequencing data from laboratories conducting routine genomic surveillance for LAC were used to calculate weekly variant proportions.§§ All available variant data were reported by date of specimen collection and used to assess periods of predominance (>50% of sequenced specimens) for the Delta and Omicron variants.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 infections were compared by vaccination status using Pearson's chi-square tests for categorical variables and Kruskal-Wallis tests for medians. P-values <0.05 were considered statistically significant. Age-adjusted rolling 14-day SARS-CoV-2 infection and hospitalization rates and rate ratios among LAC residents aged ≥18 years were estimated by vaccination status using 2019 population estimates and standardized using the year 2000 U.S. standard population.¶¶ Analyses were conducted using SAS (version 9.4; SAS Institute) and R (version 3.6.2; R Foundation). This activity was determined by LACDPH's Institutional Review Board to be a surveillance activity necessary for public health work and therefore did not require Institutional Review Board review.
From mid-August 2021 until the emergence of Omicron in November 2021, nearly 100% of SARS-CoV-2 infections among LAC residents with sequenced specimens were caused by the Delta variant. The earliest known Omicron variant infection in LAC was identified in a specimen collected during the final week of November 2021. As Omicron emerged in LAC, Delta prevalence decreased 95% during the week ending December 11. Omicron became the predominant SARS-CoV-2 variant in LAC during the week ending December 18, accounting for 57% of all sequenced specimens; Omicron prevalence continued to increase, accounting for 99% of all sequenced specimens for the week ending January 8, 2022 (Supplementary Figure, https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/113859).
Among 422,966 reported SARS-CoV-2 infections in LAC residents aged ≥18 years during November 7, 2021–January 8, 2022, a total of 141,928 (33.6%) were in unvaccinated persons, 56,185 (13.3%) were in fully vaccinated persons with a booster, and 224,853 (53.2%) were in fully vaccinated persons without a booster (Table). Unvaccinated persons were most likely to be hospitalized (2.8%), admitted to an ICU (0.5%), and require intubation for mechanical ventilation (0.2%); these outcomes were less common in fully vaccinated persons with a booster (0.7%, 0.08%, and 0.03%, respectively) and fully vaccinated persons without a booster (1.0%, 0.12%, and 0.05%, respectively) (p<0.001). Deaths were also more likely to occur among unvaccinated persons (0.3%) than among fully vaccinated persons with a booster (0.07%) or without (0.08%) (p<0.001).
During the last week of Delta predominance (week ending December 11), age-adjusted 14-day cumulative incidence and hospitalization rates were highest among unvaccinated persons (443.9 and 45.9 per 100,000 persons, respectively), and lower among fully vaccinated persons with a booster (36.1 and 0.6, respectively) and fully vaccinated persons without a booster (115.9 and 3.6, respectively). As Omicron became predominant, age-adjusted incidence and hospitalization rates increased in all groups, irrespective of vaccination status, compared with rates during the Delta predominant period (Figure 1). As of January 8, 2022, age-adjusted 14-day cumulative incidence and hospitalization rates remained highest among unvaccinated persons (6,743.5 and 187.8 per 100,000, respectively), and lowest among fully vaccinated persons with a booster (1,889.0 and 8.2, respectively) and fully vaccinated persons without a booster (3,355.5 and 35.4, respectively).
Figure 1.
Age-adjusted rolling 14-day SARS-CoV-2 cumulative incidence* (A) and hospitalization rates (B), by vaccination status — Los Angeles County, California, November 7, 2021–January 8, 2022
*Rates were estimated using 2019 population estimates and standardized using the year 2000 standard population.
Overall, during November 7, 2021–January 8, 2022, incidence and hospitalization rates were highest among unvaccinated persons. During the last week of Delta predominance, compared with fully vaccinated persons with a booster, incidence and hospitalization rates among unvaccinated persons were 12.3 and 83.0 times higher, respectively (Figure 2), and compared with rates for fully vaccinated persons without a booster, incidence and hospitalization rates among unvaccinated persons were 3.8 and 12.9 times higher, respectively. As of January 8, 2022, during Omicron predominance, these rate ratios were lower for both comparisons, with infection and hospitalization rates among unvaccinated persons 3.6 times and 23.0 times, respectively, those in fully vaccinated persons with a booster, and 2.0 and 5.3 times, respectively, those in fully vaccinated persons without a booster.
Figure 2.
Age-adjusted rolling 14-day SARS-CoV-2–associated incidence rate ratios* (A) and hospitalization rate ratios (B), by vaccination status — Los Angeles County, California, November 7, 2021–January 8, 2022
*Rate ratios were estimated by comparing rates in unvaccinated persons with those in vaccinated persons with and without a booster dose, using 2019 population estimates and standardized using the year 2000 standard population.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2022;71(5):177-181. © 2022 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
