Two Studies Show Updated Boosters Dramatically Reduce COVID-19 Hospitalizations
The updated COVID-19 boosters provide robust protection against COVID-19 hospitalization, two new studies found. Clinical trials showed the updated boosters to be much more effective against the omicrons variants than the “original recipe”. The initial vaccine formulation offers minimal protection against these newer variants because the virus has mutated significantly over the past three years. The research articles, published by the CDC, show that adults who received the updated booster are 56% less likely to be hospitalized or seek urgent care than unvaccinated individuals.
The updated vaccine offered even more protection for people 65 years and older; They were 83% less likely to be hospitalized due to COVID-19 compared to people who had their last dose more than one year ago. In fact, people who received their last shot more than 12 months ago were just as likely to be hospitalized as individuals who were never vaccinated. Beyond hospitalization, a third CDC report showed the updated booster is more effective than the original vaccine formulation at preventing symptomatic infection.