Effectiveness of mRNA and inactivated COVID-19 vaccines: A test-negative study in an infection-naïve Hong Kong population

Abstract

Objective: Assess real-world effectiveness of vaccines against COVID-19.

Methods: A test-negative study was conducted in January-May 2022 during an Omicron BA.2 wave in Hong Kong. COVID-19 was identified by RT-PCR. 1-1 case-control matching was based on propensity score with vaccine effectiveness adjusted for confounders.

Results: Altogether, 1781 cases and 1737 controls aged 3-105 years were analysed. The mean lag time from the last dose of vaccination to testing for SARS-CoV-2 was 133.9 (SD: 84.4) days. Two doses of either vaccine within 180 days offered a low effectiveness against COVID-19 of all severity combined (VE_adj [95% CI] for BNT162b2: 27.0% [4.2-44.5], CoronaVac: 22.9% [1.3-39.7]), and further decreased after 180 days. Two doses of CoronaVac were poorly protective 39.5% [4.9-62.5] against severe diseases for age ≥ 60 years, but the effectiveness increased substantially after the third dose (79.1% [25.7-96.7]). Two doses of BNT162b2 protected age ≥ 60 years against severe diseases (79.3% [47.2, 93.9]); however, the uptake was not high enough to assess three doses.

Conclusions: The current real-world analysis indicates a high vaccine effectiveness of three doses of inactivated virus (CoronaVac) vaccines against Omicron variant, whereas the effectiveness of two doses is suboptimal.

Keywords: BNT162b2; COVID-19; Chinese; Comorbidity; CoronaVac; Effectiveness; Hong Kong; Omicron; SARS-CoV-2; Vaccine.