A two-year study conducted by the Johns Hopkins Transplant Research Center (TRC) and the New York University Center for Surgical and Applied Transplant Research has found that organ transplant recipients who have received COVID-19 vaccines have a reduced risk of severe illness or complications from breakthrough infections. The study, which included nearly 2,400 transplant recipients, found that while post-vaccination breakthrough cases of SARS-CoV-2 remain common, hospitalization rates have dropped significantly following the emergence of the omicron subvariant. About 19.7% of participants in the study reported SARS-CoV-2 infections, and 7.5% of those individuals required hospitalization. Hospitalization rates dropped by 75% in the later omicron era compared to earlier subvariant waves. The study also found that lung transplant recipients remained at a higher risk of hospitalization during the more recent subvariant eras.
The findings of this study reaffirm the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination for organ transplant recipients in reducing the severity of illness and long-term complications. The study highlights the value of vaccination for high-risk individuals and provides evidence-based information for counseling and risk assessment in vulnerable populations. The TRC plans to expand the study’s methodology to investigate transplant recipients’ responses to vaccines against other infectious diseases and continue studying strategies to optimize vaccine effectiveness in this population.
