Neglected benefits
The researchers, led by Ziyad Al-Ali, an epidemiologist at the St. Louis VA, also looked at MACE and deaths without documented cases of COVID-19. Here, the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccines were stronger, suggesting that cases of COVID-19 were being missed or underdiagnosed. The shots appear to have reduced the MACE rate from 382 to 358 per 10,000, and the fatality rate from 223 to 207.
“Extrapolating these estimates to a population of 1 million, the vaccine could be associated with the prevention of approximately 2,370 MACE cases and 1,580 deaths over 8 months,” the researchers said, urging caution when interpreting the findings.
The study has limitations, including that the majority of the US veteran population is older, white, and male, making it likely that the findings may not be generalizable to the entire population. Still, the findings suggest that vaccines continue to protect the cardiovascular system against COVID-19, and that should influence people’s decision to get an annual COVID-19 booster. An accompanying study Published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine, it found that the vaccines still directly protected against COVID-19, reducing the risk of hospitalization and critical illness by 35 percent and 41 percent, respectively.
In accompanying editorialRobert Califf, a cardiologist and former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, wrote that the data from the two studies “provide strong evidence of a favorable risk-benefit balance for updated COVID-19 vaccine boosters in the population.” But he lamented that despite this strong evidence, national views are swayed by “general antivaccination statements from the US Department of Health and Human Services” directed by anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Only 17.5 percent of U.S. adults and 22.6 percent of people over age 65 will be vaccinated against COVID-19 during 2025-2026. according to federal data.
“The politicization of the COVID-19 vaccine and messenger RNA vaccines has generally affected the longevity and functional status of those in the United States,” Califf said. He urged researchers to collect more data on vaccine benefits and to communicate the findings to the public, particularly on social media, to counter anti-vaccine rhetoric.
