Updated COVID vaccines reduce hospitalization risk for immunocompromised patients with autoimmune disease

Updated and booster COVID-19 vaccines provide superior protection against hospitalization for high-risk patients with autoimmune rheumatic conditions compared to initial vaccine series alone. Analyzing 60,980 patients, University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers found updated vaccines reduced hospitalization odds to an adjusted ratio of 0.31 compared to unvaccinated individuals, with an absolute risk reduction of 5.6% and a number needed to treat of 18.

Updated COVID vaccines lower hospitalization risk

• ▪Among patients with autoimmune rheumatic conditions, study data in Arthritis Care & Research showed an adjusted odds ratio for COVID-19 hospitalization of 0.31 for those receiving an updated vaccine series and 0.29 for those receiving a booster, relative to unvaccinated patients.
• ▪Research published in Arthritis Care & Research demonstrated that patients with autoimmune rheumatic conditions who received an updated 2023 or 2024 COVID-19 vaccine had significantly lower odds of COVID-19-related hospitalization compared to unvaccinated patients.
• ▪Comparing patients with autoimmune rheumatic conditions receiving initial COVID-19 vaccines only against those receiving updated or booster doses showed an absolute risk reduction for hospitalization of 5.6 percent, yielding a number needed to treat of 18.

Demographics and scope of the study cohort

• ▪The cohort of 60,980 patients with autoimmune rheumatic conditions analyzed in Arthritis Care & Research had a median age of 62 years, with 76 percent identified as women and 74 percent as non-Hispanic white.
• ▪A retrospective cohort study using National Clinical Cohort Collaborative data evaluated 60,980 patients with autoimmune rheumatic conditions who acquired an incident COVID-19 case between December 2020 and August 2024, including 6,336 patients who received an updated COVID-19 vaccine.

Study objectives and recommendations

• ▪Lead study author Lesley E. Jackson and colleagues emphasized that targeted efforts and ongoing clinician and policymaker encouragement are essential to keep immunocompromised patients with rheumatic conditions current with updated COVID-19 vaccines for better health outcomes.
• ▪Lesley E. Jackson and colleagues set secondary study objectives to evaluate the need for mechanical ventilation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and death among hospitalized patients with autoimmune rheumatic conditions.