Effectiveness of BA.1- and BA.4/BA. 5-Containing Bivalent COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines Against Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection During the BA.5-Dominant Period in Japan

Takeshi Arashiro; Yuzo Arima; Jin Kuramochi; Hirokazu Muraoka; Akihiro Sato; Kumi Chubachi; Atsushi Yanai; Hiroko Arioka; Yuki Uehara; Genei Ihara; Yasuyuki Kato; Naoki Yanagisawa; Akihiro Ueda; Hideaki Kato; Hideaki Oka; Yusuke Nishida; Yuki Nidaira; Takahiro Asami; Torahiko Jinta; Akira Nakamura; Kunihiro Oba; Daisuke Taniyama; Kei Yamamoto; Katsushi Tanaka; Kankuro Ueshima; Tetsuji Fuwa; Ashley Stucky; Tadaki Suzuki; Chris Smith; Martin Hibberd; Koya Ariyoshi; Motoi Suzuki

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofad240

Effectiveness of BA.1- and BA.4/BA. 5-Containing Bivalent COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines Against Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection During the BA.5-Dominant Period in Japan

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2023 May 3;10(6):ofad240. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofad240. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Authors

Takeshi Arashiro^{1

2

3

4}, Yuzo Arima¹, Jin Kuramochi^{5

6}, Hirokazu Muraoka⁷, Akihiro Sato⁸, Kumi Chubachi⁹, Atsushi Yanai¹⁰, Hiroko Arioka¹⁰, Yuki Uehara^{11

12}, Genei Ihara¹³, Yasuyuki Kato¹⁴, Naoki Yanagisawa¹⁵, Akihiro Ueda¹⁶, Hideaki Kato¹⁷, Hideaki Oka¹⁸, Yusuke Nishida¹⁸, Yuki Nidaira⁵, Takahiro Asami¹⁹, Torahiko Jinta²⁰, Akira Nakamura²¹, Kunihiro Oba²², Daisuke Taniyama²³, Kei Yamamoto¹⁸, Katsushi Tanaka¹⁷, Kankuro Ueshima²⁴, Tetsuji Fuwa²⁴, Ashley Stucky¹, Tadaki Suzuki², Chris Smith^{3

4}, Martin Hibberd³, Koya Ariyoshi⁴, Motoi Suzuki¹

Affiliations

¹ Center for Surveillance, Immunization, and Epidemiologic Research, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan.
² Department of Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan.
³ Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
⁴ School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
⁵ Kuramochi Clinic Interpark, Tochigi, Japan.
⁶ Department of Global Health Promotion, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan.
⁷ CLINIC FOR TAMACHI, Tokyo, Japan.
⁸ KARADA Internal Medicine Clinic, Tokyo, Japan.
⁹ Chubachi Internal Respiratory Medicine Clinic, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁰ Department of General Internal Medicine, St. Luke's International Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
¹¹ Department of Clinical Laboratory, St. Luke's International Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
¹² Department of Infectious Diseases, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Aichi, Japan.
¹³ Machida Ekimae Naika Clinic, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁴ Department of Infectious Diseases, International University of Health and Welfare Narita Hospital, Chiba, Japan.
¹⁵ Yanagisawa Clinic, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁶ Department of Infectious Diseases, Japanese Red Cross Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁷ Infection Prevention and Control Department, Yokohama City University Hospital, Yokohama, Japan.
¹⁸ Department of General Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Saitama Medical Center, Saitama, Japan.
¹⁹ Department of Internal Medicine, Sano Kosei General Hospital, Tochigi, Japan.
²⁰ Department of Pulmonary Medicine, St. Luke's International Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
²¹ Department of Internal Medicine, Asahi General Hospital, Chiba, Japan.
²² Department of Pediatrics, Showa General Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
²³ Department of Infectious Diseases, Showa General Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
²⁴ NATURALI Co., Ltd, Tokyo, Japan.

Abstract

In this multicenter, prospective, test-negative, case-control study in Japan, the effectiveness of both BA.1-containing and BA.4/BA.5-containing bivalent coronavirus disease 2019 mRNA vaccines against symptomatic infection during the BA.5-dominant period was high compared with no vaccination (65% and 76%) and moderate compared with monovalent vaccines administered over half a year earlier (46% combined).

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; SARS-CoV-2 variants; test-negative design; vaccine effectiveness.