NEW YORK — A new study from Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report finds that during the Delta wave, both vaccination and surviving a previous infection provided protection against new infection and hospitalization.
On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a study that reviewed COVID-19 cases hospitalizations by vaccination and previous infection status between May and November of 2021. It found that people who were not vaccinated nor had previously caught COVID-19 were at the highest risk of infection and hospitalization.
Throughout the course of the study, the protection offered by a vaccine or previous infection changed. However, MMWR found that vaccination remains the safest strategy of protection against COVID-19.
MMWR notes some caveats to the study including that the study was conducted before the Omicron variant, so findings cannot be applied to the current variant. Additionally, the study was conducted before widespread implementation of a booster dose and does not reflect the benefits of an additional dose of the vaccine.
Another caveat to note is that the study did not include reflect the risk of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 infection.
Later this week, the CDC will be publishing a study on additional data on COVID-19 vaccines and boosters while the Omicron variant has been spreading. Meanwhile, a recent study shows that vaccines have greater protection against COVID-19 as time goes on compared to prior infection.
Currently, New York State reports that 70.9% of the total population has completed a COVID-19 vaccine series. For adults, 81% of the state population has completed the vaccination series.