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According to the CDC, the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines are 94 percent effective in adults ages 65 and older who have received both doses of the shot and allowed 14 days to pass after the second dose.
The study, which followed more than 400 hospitalized adults across 14 states from January to March, also found that the two-dose vaccines are 64 percent effective in the elderly who have only received one shot.
As of Tuesday, April 27, more than 81 percent of US adults 65 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the data compiled by the CDC. More than 67 percent of adults ages 65 and older are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
“This multisite U.S. evaluation under real-world conditions suggests that vaccination provided protection against COVID-19–associated hospitalization among adults aged ≥65 years,” the CDC wrote in the study. “Vaccination is a critical tool for reducing severe COVID-19 in groups at high risk.”
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky called the findings of the study “encouraging and welcome news.”
“The results are promising for our communities and hospitals,” she said. “As our vaccination efforts continue to expand, COVID-19 patients will not overwhelm health care systems — leaving hospital staff, beds, and services available for people who need them for other medical conditions.”
Earlier this week, infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said that if the country continues to administer COVID-19 vaccines at the rate it is has been in recent weeks, it could “literally (be) within a few weeks,” before America starts to see “a turning around of the dynamics.”
“Not down to no infections,” he added. “If you’re waiting for classic measles-like herd immunity, that’s going to be a while before we get there.
“But that doesn’t mean we’re not going to have a significant diminution in the number of infections per day and a significant diminution in all of the parameters, namely hospitalizations and deaths.”
The complete CDC report can be found here.
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