COVID-19 Mortality and Vaccine Coverage — Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, January 6, 2022–March 21, 2022

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Personal Author:
  Smith, Dallas J. ; Hakim, Avi J. ; Leung, Gabriel M. ; Xu, Wenbo ; Schluter, W. William ; Novak, Ryan T. ; Marston, Barbara ; Hersh, Bradley S.
• Description:
  On January 6, 2022, a cluster of COVID-19 cases* caused by the Omicron Variants of SARS-CoV-2, the Virus that causes COVID-19, was detected in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Hong Kong), resulting in the territory's fifth wave of COVID-19 cases (1). This wave peaked on March 4, 2022, with 8,764 COVID-19 cases per million population (2), resulting in a total of 1,049,959 cases and 5,906 COVID-19-associated deaths reported to the Hong Kong Department of Health during January 6-March 21, 2022.| Throughout this period, the COVID-19 Mortality rate in Hong Kong (37.7 per million population) was among the highest reported Worldwide since the COVID-19 pandemic began (3). Publicly available data on age-specific vaccination coverage in Hong Kong with a 2-dose primary vaccination series (with either Sinovac-CoronaVac [Sinovac], an inactivated COVID-19 viral vaccine, recommended for persons aged ≥3 years or BNT162b2 [Pfizer-BioNTech], an mRNA vaccine, for persons aged ≥5 years), as of December 23, 2021,| and COVID-19 Mortality during January 6-March 21, 2022, were analyzed. By December 23, 2021, 67% of vaccine-eligible persons in Hong Kong had received ≥1 dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, 64% had received ≥2 doses, and 5% had received a booster dose. Among persons aged ≥60 years, these proportions were 52%, 49%, and 7%, respectively. Among those aged ≥60 years, vaccination coverage declined with age: 48% of persons aged 70-79 years had received ≥1 dose, 45% received ≥2 doses, and 7% had received a booster, and among those aged ≥80 years, 20%, 18%, and 2% had received ≥1 dose, ≥2 doses, and a booster dose, respectively. Among 5,906 COVID-19 deaths reported, 5,655 (96%) occurred in persons aged ≥60 years**; among these decedents, 3,970 (70%) were unvaccinated, 18% (1,023) had received 1 vaccine dose, and 12% (662) had received ≥2 doses. The overall rates of COVID-19-associated Mortality among persons aged ≥60 years who were unvaccinated, who had received 1 COVID-19 vaccine dose, and who had received ≥2 vaccine doses were 10,076, 1,099, and 473 per million population, respectively; the risk for COVID-19-associated death among unvaccinated persons was 21.3 times that among recipients of 2-3 doses in this age group. The high overall Mortality rate during the ongoing 2022 Hong Kong Omicron COVID-19 outbreak is being driven by deaths among unvaccinated persons aged ≥60 years. Efforts to identify and address gaps in age-specific vaccination coverage can help prevent high Mortality from COVID-19, especially among persons aged ≥60 years.
• Subjects:
  Aged BNT162 Vaccine Child, Preschool COVID-19 COVID-19 Vaccines Humans MRNA Vaccines Pandemics SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines, Synthetic
• Source:
  MMWR Morbidity Mortal Weekly Rep. 71(15):545-548
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• DOI:
  http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/MMWRmm7115e1
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Pubmed ID:
  35421076
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC9020860
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  China ; Hong Kong
• Pages in Document:
  4 pdf pages
• Volume:
  71
• Issue:
  15
• Collection(s):
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b0071951afc01554bdc611365271bc0c06ea64236354889984a0ecb05afd94b5a7de890cbfc90c55eb7c470a572624e4f40b34a53533561bc489064f70d91ee6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/117046/cdc_117046_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 101.36 KB ]