AUTHOR=Lorenzon Antonio , Palandri Lucia , Uguzzoni Francesco , Cristofor Catalina Doina , Lozza Filippo , Poluzzi Riccardo , Rizzi Cristiana , Bertoli Pierpaolo , Zerzer Florian , Righi Elena 

TITLE=Effectiveness of the SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination in Preventing Severe Disease-Related Outcomes: A Population-Based Study in the Italian Province of Bolzano (South Tyrol)

JOURNAL=International Journal of Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 69 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/international-journal-of-public-health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2024.1606792

DOI=10.3389/ijph.2024.1606792

ISSN=1661-8564

ABSTRACT=Objective: investigating the effectiveness of SARS-CoV2 vaccination in preventing ordinary or intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and death among cases registered during a variant transitional pandemic phase in the geographically and culturally peculiar territory of Bolzano Province (South Tyrol), an Italian region with low vaccination coverage.We collected data from 93643 patients registered positive for SARS-CoV-2 by health authorities during winter 2021-22. Data was retrospectively analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression.Results: 925 patients were hospitalised (0.99%), 89 (0.10%) in ICU, and 194 (0.21%) died. Vaccinated patients had significantly lower risk of being hospitalised: adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR):0.39;95%CI:0.33-0.46, admitted to ICU: aOR:0.16;95%CI:0.09-0.29 and dying: aOR:0.41;95%CI:0.29-0.58. Similar risk reductions were observed also for booster-vaccinated patients, independently of sex, age, predominant variant. Furthermore, the median length of stay (LoS) in ICUs was significantly longer for unvaccinated people compared to vaccinated (9 vs 6 days; p<0.003).Conclusions: Primary series vaccination and ongoing campaign booster dose were effective in preventing all severe disease-related outcomes and in reducing ICU LoS, even during a transitional pandemic phase and in a peculiar territorial context.