COVID-19 vaccination and case fatality rates: a case report in a Brazilian municipality

Abstract

Vaccination campaigns played a crucial role in reducing the incidence of COVID-19. However, a scant number of studies evaluated the impact of vaccination on case fatality rates (CFRs), including in Brazil. Our study aimed to compare CFRs according to vaccination status among subjects living in Arapongas (Paraná State, Brazil), considering the age composition of the population. Several strategies adopted by the Arapongas City Hall to minimize the spread of the virus were also elaborated upon. We accessed the 2021 database of the Arapongas Municipal Health Department, in which a total of 16,437 confirmed cases and 425 deaths were reported. The CFR was calculated as the ratio between COVID-19 deaths and the number of confirmed cases. Differences in age composition between unvaccinated and fully vaccinated individuals were observed in our study. Considering that CFR is a crude indicator and is highly sensitive to the age composition of the population, we adopted the average age distribution of confirmed cases among the three vaccination statuses (unvaccinated, partially, and fully) as a standard age distribution. The age-standardized CFR for unvaccinated and fully vaccinated groups were 4.55% and 2.42%, respectively. Fully vaccinated individuals showed lower age-specific CFRs in all age groups above 60 years than unvaccinated populations. Our findings strengthen the role of vaccination as a critical measure for preventing deaths among infected people and is particularly important to the ongoing reassessment of public health interventions and policies.