Third COVID-19 vaccine dose cuts death rate by 90 per cent, study finds

The researchers are based in Hong Kong, which reported the highest death rate in the world when the Omicron wave hit.

Vulnerable people and priority groups were given access to a booster shot in Hong Kong from November 11, 2021, and the doors opened to everybody on January 1, 2022.

More than three million people – in a city of 7.5 million – got a booster shot in the first four months of last year.

“Our findings suggest that this timely, massive public health measure has plausibly played a pivotal role in lowering the mortality rate amid the epidemic, especially among people living with multimorbidity,” first author Francisco Lai, from the University of Hong Kong, said.

Researchers compared data on people aged 18 years or older with two or more chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and chronic kidney disease, who received a third vaccine dose between November 11, 2021, and March 31, 2022, compared to people who received only two doses.

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The study findings “highlight the potential benefit from booster vaccination, specifically in vulnerable populations living with multimorbidity, and support the recent focus on older people and those with chronic conditions for future booster doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines beyond the first booster”.

The robust results will contribute to the evidence base that getting boosted provides strong protection against death from COVID-19.

“As the data on SARS-CoV-2 vaccination records used for this study was provided by the sole operator of vaccine roll-out in Hong Kong, with a unified recording system, and with linked clinical records provided by a territory-wide public health care provider, our data should be highly reliable and representative,” the authors wrote.

The report is set to be published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.