“One of the most interesting aspects of our findings was that the patients who received PCV13 received some protection against COVID-19, while those who received PPSV23, another pneumococcal vaccine, did not.”
Apparently, like all things in this confusing world, there is one pneumonia shot, PCV13 vaccine that helps re less Covid-19 diagnosis.
“Kaiser Permanente members who received the PCV13 vaccine appeared to be diagnosed with COVID-19 less often, and when they were, they seemed to have less severe outcomes, overall,” said the senior author, Sara Y. Tartof, PhD, MPH, a scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation.
“One of the most interesting aspects of our findings was that the patients who received PCV13 received some protection against COVID-19, while those who received PPSV23, another pneumococcal vaccine, did not.”
This study examined electronic health records of 531,033 members of Kaiser Permanente in Southern California who were 65 years old and older from March 1 to July 22, 2020. Among that population, 3,677 had a COVID-19 diagnosis, 1,075 were hospitalized for COVID-19, and 334 died from COVID-19.
Among adults ages 65 years old and older, those who received the pneumonia vaccine PCV13 had:
35% lower incidence of COVID-19 diagnosis
32% lower incidence of COVID-19 hospitalization
32% lower incidence of COVID-19 death
Is there any way that some of the COVID-19 deaths are complicated by infection with pneumococcus?
How is the year over year death rate for pneumonia going anyway? Has government released the mortality statistics for 2020 yet?