Risk of breakthrough infections remains very rare, three studies find
The Covid-19 vaccines continue to offer strong protection against severe illness and hospitalization, according to research on more than 1 million people published Wednesday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
The findings come as the United States prepares to begin offering booster shots to all Americans later this month — a decision driven in part by data federal officials have said indicates the vaccines’ ability to curb infections may be waning.
But protection against the most severe forms of the disease appears to be holding up.
The new research shows the vaccines are keeping people out of the hospital and the intensive care unit and are preventing deaths, said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who was not involved with the study. [Continue reading…]