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Booster Shots 90% Effective at Preventing Omicron Hospitalizations, CDC Data Shows
A new study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention demonstrates that booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have proven highly effective at preventing omicron-related hospitalizations. When the Omicron variant first began circulating, adults who received a COVID-19 booster dose had 5-times the protection against infection compared with adults who were not vaccinated.
COVID-19 vaccines reduced risks for SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19–associated death during periods of Delta variant predominance and infection risk during Omicron variant emergence. Substantial case rate increases were recorded among unvaccinated and vaccinated persons when Omicron became the predominant variant in December.
Vaccine efficacy was higher among persons who were fully vaccinated and had received a booster dose than among fully vaccinated persons who had not received a booster dose. The added benefits of booster doses were especially prominent among persons 50 and older.