Protection against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection conferred by the Pfizer-BioNTech Original/BA.4-5 bivalent vaccine compared to the mRNA Original monovalent vaccines - A matched cohort study in France

Abstract

This cohort study evaluated the protection against symptomatic Omicron BA.5 infection conferred by the Pfizer-BioNTech Original/BA.4-5 bivalent vaccine compared to mRNA Original monovalent vaccines (Pfizer- BioNTech or Moderna). Individuals of ≥60 years old, who received a booster dose between 03/10/2022 and 06/11/2022, when both bivalent and monovalent vaccines were used in France, were included and matched according to the type of booster vaccine received. The outcome of interest was a positive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR or antigenic test associated to self-reported symptoms, ≥ seven days after receiving the booster dose. Data were analysed with a Cox Proportional-Hazards model adjusted for the presence of previous infection, age, sex, and the presence of medium risk comorbidities. A total of 136,852 individuals were included and followed for a median period of 77 days. The bivalent vaccine conferred an additional protection of 8 % [95 % CI: 0 %-16 %, p = 0.045] against symptomatic Omicron BA.5infection compared to the monovalent vaccines.

Keywords: Bivalent vaccine; Booster vaccination; Omicron; SARS-CoV-2; Vaccine effectiveness.