Although COVID-19 is no longer causing the widespread disruption seen during the global health emergency, the virus continues to hospitalize and kill people across Europe and neighboring regions.
Studies led by the WHO Regional Office for Europe confirm that people who receive timely booster doses are far less likely to develop serious illness, require intensive care or die.
The findings are based on data from the European Severe Acute Respiratory Infection Vaccine Effectiveness (EuroSAVE) network, which monitors respiratory infections in hospitals across parts of Europe, the Balkans, the South Caucasus and Central Asia.
Important findings
“The studies highlight that although COVID-19 is not leading to the widespread disease we saw during the pandemic, it has still caused a significant number of hospitalizations and deaths,” said Mark Katz, a medical epidemiologist at the WHO regional office.
Between May 2023 and April 2024, almost 4,000 patients were hospitalized with acute respiratory infections in countries covered by the network.
Almost 10 percent of those cases were caused by COVID-19, despite the pandemic being declared over. Among patients hospitalized with COVID-19, only 3 percent had received a vaccine dose within the previous 12 months.
The consequences were often severe: 13 percent of COVID-19 patients required admission to intensive care units, and 11 percent died.
Comparative research also found that patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were more likely than those with the flu to require oxygen, intensive care, or succumb to the disease.
Vaccines provide strong protection
In contrast, vaccination provided strong protection.
A EuroSAVE study found that an updated COVID-19 vaccine received within the past six months was 72 percent effective in preventing hospitalization and 67 percent effective in preventing the most serious outcomes, including intensive care unit admission and death.
A separate multi-country analysis found that vaccines reduced COVID-related hospitalizations by about 60 percent.
