Now It’s Been Proven: COVID-19 Vaccines Reduce Hospitalizations (and Even Trips to Urgent Care)

Data on the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, thus far, have focused on how well vaccination protects patients from infection. We know that the vaccines, overall, are approximately 95% effective against infection, though that figure may be as low as 66% against the Delta variant. We also know, however, that breakthrough cases occur more often than we might have anticipated. An article just published in the New England Journal of Medicine appears to be the first to track the effects of vaccination across the board, including among people who did get the shot. And the news is good: The researchers found an overall effectiveness rate of 89% against infection leading to hospitalization, 90% effectiveness in reducing ICU admission, and 91% effective against infection that would lead to a trip to an urgent care center or the emergency room. It’s too early to know what the effects of that might be, but it may be reasonable to presume that having fewer infected patients in your waiting room and engaging with your staff (and other patients) will lower the chance that anyone will become infected by visiting your center. And the results certainly add to the growing body of evidence that the vaccines work.