COVID-19 vaccination and its influence on the disease severity among the COVID patients in a tertiary care hospital – A cross sectional study

Introduction: COVID-19 disease was a global health emergency from March 2020 till May 2023 with no effective drug to date. COVID-19 vaccines with other precautious measures like hand washing, disinfection, social distancing etc. were the only ways to decrease the burden of the disease worldwide. The study aimed to determine the association between COVID-19 vaccination and disease severity among COVID-19 patients admitted to a Government Medical College hospital. Methods: This cross sectional study included 983 COVID-19 patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital from March 2021 to December 2021. Secondary data were collected from the case sheets and vaccination details were collected from the patients over the phone and through COWIN App. Chi-square test and binary logistic regression were done and the p value and odds ratio were estimated. Results: 92.9% of study participants were unvaccinated, 2.7% were fully vaccinated, and 4.3% were partially vaccinated. Among fully vaccinated 11.1% had breathlessness, 0% ICU admission, 3.7% died, 20% had COVID pneumonia findings in CT lung, 9% had low lymphocyte levels which were statistically significantly lower than in partially vaccinated (39.5%, 41.9%, 7%, 18.6%, 59.3%, 65.1%, 76.9% respectively) and unvaccinated (31.1%, 27.7%, 2%, 4.6%, 48.2%, 45.2%, 68.4% respectively). Conclusion: Two doses of vaccines provided significant protection from severe forms of the disease. Partially vaccinated were affected more, which may be due to insufficient immunity gained and their careless attitude post-vaccination with decreased shielding behaviour. The present study shows that partial vaccination is not protective against the progression of COVID-19 disease severity. More focus should be made on full vaccination of the community and educating the public about complete vaccination and emphasis on preventive measures even after vaccination must be made to reduce the burden of COVID-19 in the community. Keywords: COVID-19; COWIN App; vaccination; coronavirus disease