The protective effect of covid-19 vaccination on post-acute sequelae of covid-19 (pasc): a multicenter study from a large national health research network

Abstract Background COVID-19 vaccines have been proven to decrease the severity of acute phase infection, however little is known about its effect on Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC). Methods Patients with confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis, minimum age of 18 years with 3 month follow-up post-diagnosis between September 21, 2020 and December 14, 2021 were identified from TriNetX research network platform. The primary outcomes consisted of new onset or persistent symptoms, new onset diagnoses, and death and were compared between vaccine and no-vaccine groups. Results At baseline, 1,578,719 patients with confirmed COVID-19 were identified and 1.6% (n = 25,225) completed vaccination. After matching, there were no differences (p > .05) in demographics or pre-existing comorbidities. At 28 days following COVID diagnosis, the incidence of hypertension was 13.52 per 1000, diabetes was 5.98 per 1000, thyroid disease was 3.80 per 1000, heart disease was 15.41 per 1000, and mental disorders was 14.77 per 1000 in the vaccine cohort. At 90 days following COVID diagnosis, the relative risk of hypertension was 0.33 (95% CI: 0.26, 0.42), diabetes was 0.28 (95% CI: 0.20, 0.38), heart disease was 0.35 (95% CI: 0.29, 0.44), and death was 0.21 (95% CI: 0.16, 0.27). Differences in both 28 and 90-day risk between the vaccine and no-vaccine cohorts were observed for each outcome and there was enough evidence (p < .05) to suggest that these differences were attributed to the vaccine. Conclusion Our data suggest that COVID-19 vaccine is protective against post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) symptoms, new onset of health conditions, and mortality.