IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i2p1647-d1037895.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effectiveness of Booster Vaccinations on the Control of COVID-19 during the Spread of Omicron Variant in Malaysia

Author

Listed:
  • Matthew Tze Jian Wong

    (Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden 11800, Malaysia)

  • Satvinder Singh Dhaliwal

    (Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden 11800, Malaysia
    Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth 6102, Australia
    Duke-NUS Medical School, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119077, Singapore
    Office of the Provost, Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore 599494, Singapore)

  • Venugopal Balakrishnan

    (Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden 11800, Malaysia)

  • Fazlina Nordin

    (Centre for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (CTERM), Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia)

  • Mohd Nor Norazmi

    (School of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian 16150, Malaysia
    Malaysian Genome and Vaccine Institute, National Institutes of Biotechnology Malaysia, Kajang 43000, Malaysia)

  • Gee Jun Tye

    (Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden 11800, Malaysia)

Abstract

(1) Background: The assessment of vaccine effectiveness against the Omicron variant is vital in the fight against COVID-19, but research on booster vaccine efficacy using nationwide data was lacking at the time of writing. This study investigates the effectiveness of booster doses on the Omicron wave in Malaysia against COVID-19 infections and deaths; (2) Methods: This study uses nationally representative data on COVID-19 from 1 January to 31 March 2022, when the Omicron variant was predominant in Malaysia. Daily new infections, deaths, ICU utilization and Rt values were compared. A screening method was used to predict the vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 infections, whereas logistic regression was used to estimate vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19-related deaths, with efficacy comparison between AZD1222, BNT162b2 and CoronaVac; (3) Results: Malaysia’s Omicron wave started at the end of January 2022, peaking on 5 March 2022. At the time of writing, statistics for daily new deaths, ICU utilization, and effective reproductive values (Rt) were showing a downtrend. Boosted vaccination is 95.4% (95% CI: 95.4, 95.4) effective in curbing COVID-19 infection, compared to non-boosted vaccination, which is 87.2% (95% CI: 87.2, 87.2). For symptomatic infection, boosted vaccination is 97.4% (95% CI: 97.4, 97.4) effective, and a non-boosted vaccination is 90.9% (95% CI: 90.9, 90.9). Against COVID-19-related death, boosted vaccination yields a vaccine effectiveness (VE) of 91.7 (95% CI: 90.6, 92.7) and full vaccination yields a VE of 65.7% (95% CI: 61.9, 69.1). Looking into the different vaccines as boosters, AZD1222 is 95.2% (CI 95%: 92.7, 96.8) effective, BNT162b2 is 91.8% (CI 95%: 90.7, 92.8) effective and CoronaVac is 88.8% (CI 95%: 84.9, 91.7) effective against COVID-19 deaths. (4) Conclusions: Boosters are effective in increasing protection against COVID-19, including the Omicron variant. Given that the VE observed was lower, CoronaVac recipients are encouraged to take boosters due to its lower VE.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew Tze Jian Wong & Satvinder Singh Dhaliwal & Venugopal Balakrishnan & Fazlina Nordin & Mohd Nor Norazmi & Gee Jun Tye, 2023. "Effectiveness of Booster Vaccinations on the Control of COVID-19 during the Spread of Omicron Variant in Malaysia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-14, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:2:p:1647-:d:1037895
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/2/1647/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/2/1647/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ewen Callaway, 2021. "Heavily mutated Omicron variant puts scientists on alert," Nature, Nature, vol. 600(7887), pages 21-21, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yu, Ling & Zhao, Pengjun & Tang, Junqing & Pang, Liang, 2023. "Changes in tourist mobility after COVID-19 outbreaks," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    2. Tashi Wangchuk & Kinga & Ugyen Wangdi & Ugyen Tshering & Kinley Wangdi, 2023. "Hand Hygiene, Face Mask Use, and Associated Factors during the COVID-19 Pandemic among the Students of Mongar Higher Secondary School, Bhutan: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-11, January.
    3. Maki Kiso & Yuri Furusawa & Ryuta Uraki & Masaki Imai & Seiya Yamayoshi & Yoshihiro Kawaoka, 2023. "In vitro and in vivo characterization of SARS-CoV-2 strains resistant to nirmatrelvir," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    4. Maki Kiso & Seiya Yamayoshi & Shun Iida & Yuri Furusawa & Yuichiro Hirata & Ryuta Uraki & Masaki Imai & Tadaki Suzuki & Yoshihiro Kawaoka, 2023. "In vitro and in vivo characterization of SARS-CoV-2 resistance to ensitrelvir," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    5. Mohamad-Hani Temsah & Shuliweeh Alenezi & Mohammed Alarabi & Fadi Aljamaan & Khalid Alhasan & Rasha Assiri & Rolan Bassrawi & Fatimah Alshahrani & Ali Alhaboob & Ali Alaraj & Nasser S. Alharbi & Abdul, 2022. "Healthcare Workers’ SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant Uncertainty-Related Stress, Resilience, and Coping Strategies during the First Week of the World Health Organization’s Alert," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-19, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:2:p:1647-:d:1037895. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.