Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 offers partial protection in the post-acute phase of the disease, according to a study in Nature Medicine. Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, and colleagues used data from a cohort of 33,940 individuals with breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection (BTI) and controls without evidence of infection. Control groups included approximately 5 million contemporary controls, 5.8 million historical controls, and 2.6 million vaccinated controls. Compared with contemporary controls, at 6 months after illness, people with BTI exhibited a higher risk for death and incident post-acute sequelae beyond the first 30 days of illness (HRs, 1.75 and 1.50, respectively), including cardiovascular, coagulation and hematologic, gastrointestinal, kidney, mental health, metabolic, musculoskeletal, and neurologic disorders. Compared with historical and vaccinated controls, results were consistent. Patients with BTI had lower risks for death and incidence of post-acute sequelae than the 113,474 people with SARS-CoV-2 infection who were not previously vaccinated (HRs, 0.66 and 0.85, respectively).
