COVID-19 Mortality and Vaccine Coverage — Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China, January 6, 2022–March 21, 2022
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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:
  • 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:
  • Source:
  • Series:
  • DOI:
  • ISSN:
    0149-2195 (print);1545-861X (digital);
  • Pubmed ID:
    35421076
  • Pubmed Central ID:
    PMC9020860
  • Document Type:
  • Place as Subject:
  • Pages in Document:
    4 pdf pages
  • Volume:
    71
  • Issue:
    15
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF-101.36 KB]

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