Impact of Vaccination and Public Health Measures on the Severity of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Infections in China: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis
<b>Background:</b> Starting in early 2022, SARS-CoV-2 Omicron has driven large outbreaks in China, a predominantly infection-naive population with high inactivated vaccine coverage. This unique context provided a substantially less-confounded opportunity to evaluate how vaccination, publ...
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2025-07-01
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| author | Can Wang Liping Peng Xiaotong Huang Tim K. Tsang |
| author_facet | Can Wang Liping Peng Xiaotong Huang Tim K. Tsang |
| author_sort | Can Wang |
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| description | <b>Background:</b> Starting in early 2022, SARS-CoV-2 Omicron has driven large outbreaks in China, a predominantly infection-naive population with high inactivated vaccine coverage. This unique context provided a substantially less-confounded opportunity to evaluate how vaccination, public health, and social measures influenced severity. <b>Methods:</b> We systematically reviewed 86 studies (224 severity estimates) published from 2022 to 2024, reporting symptom and clinical severity outcomes (fever, cough, and sore throat; symptomatic, severe/critical, and fatal illness) of Omicron infections in China. Using meta-regression, we evaluated the associations of study setting, age group, vaccination status, predominant subvariants, and Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) indices, including the Government Response Index (GRI), Containment and Health Index (CHI), and the Stringency Index (SI), with infection outcomes, adjusting for key confounders. <b>Results:</b> We found the primary or booster series of inactivated vaccines conferred strong protection against severe/critical illness (pooled relative risk (RR) 0.17 [95% CI: 0.09–0.33]) but did not reduce symptom frequency (RR 0.99 [95% CI: 0.95–1.02]). Each 10-unit increase in GRI or CHI was associated with 7% (95% CI: 1–12%) and 6% (95% CI: 1–10%) lower odds of symptomatic infection and 3% (95% CI: 1–4%) lower odds of severe/critical illness. Later subvariants (BA.5, BF.7, and XBB) showed 24–38% higher odds of upper respiratory symptoms versus BA.1. <b>Conclusions</b>: The data collection context significantly impacted severity estimates, with higher estimates from emergency hospitals. Overall, inactivated vaccines provided strong protection against severe/critical outcomes while stringent public health measures were associated with lower severity. Our findings underscore the importance of consistent and standardized protocols to produce reliable estimates of SARS-CoV-2 severity in evolving epidemiological contexts. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c1db4b3ccbe0448c91b8bba266c96edd |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-393X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Vaccines |
| spelling | doaj-art-c1db4b3ccbe0448c91b8bba266c96edd2025-08-20T03:56:49ZengMDPI AGVaccines2076-393X2025-07-0113774710.3390/vaccines13070747Impact of Vaccination and Public Health Measures on the Severity of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Infections in China: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression AnalysisCan Wang0Liping Peng1Xiaotong Huang2Tim K. Tsang3WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaWHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaWHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaWHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China<b>Background:</b> Starting in early 2022, SARS-CoV-2 Omicron has driven large outbreaks in China, a predominantly infection-naive population with high inactivated vaccine coverage. This unique context provided a substantially less-confounded opportunity to evaluate how vaccination, public health, and social measures influenced severity. <b>Methods:</b> We systematically reviewed 86 studies (224 severity estimates) published from 2022 to 2024, reporting symptom and clinical severity outcomes (fever, cough, and sore throat; symptomatic, severe/critical, and fatal illness) of Omicron infections in China. Using meta-regression, we evaluated the associations of study setting, age group, vaccination status, predominant subvariants, and Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) indices, including the Government Response Index (GRI), Containment and Health Index (CHI), and the Stringency Index (SI), with infection outcomes, adjusting for key confounders. <b>Results:</b> We found the primary or booster series of inactivated vaccines conferred strong protection against severe/critical illness (pooled relative risk (RR) 0.17 [95% CI: 0.09–0.33]) but did not reduce symptom frequency (RR 0.99 [95% CI: 0.95–1.02]). Each 10-unit increase in GRI or CHI was associated with 7% (95% CI: 1–12%) and 6% (95% CI: 1–10%) lower odds of symptomatic infection and 3% (95% CI: 1–4%) lower odds of severe/critical illness. Later subvariants (BA.5, BF.7, and XBB) showed 24–38% higher odds of upper respiratory symptoms versus BA.1. <b>Conclusions</b>: The data collection context significantly impacted severity estimates, with higher estimates from emergency hospitals. Overall, inactivated vaccines provided strong protection against severe/critical outcomes while stringent public health measures were associated with lower severity. Our findings underscore the importance of consistent and standardized protocols to produce reliable estimates of SARS-CoV-2 severity in evolving epidemiological contexts.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/13/7/747COVID-19SARS-CoV-2severityOmicronvaccine effectivenessinactivated vaccines |
| spellingShingle | Can Wang Liping Peng Xiaotong Huang Tim K. Tsang Impact of Vaccination and Public Health Measures on the Severity of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Infections in China: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis Vaccines COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 severity Omicron vaccine effectiveness inactivated vaccines |
| title | Impact of Vaccination and Public Health Measures on the Severity of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Infections in China: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis |
| title_full | Impact of Vaccination and Public Health Measures on the Severity of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Infections in China: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis |
| title_fullStr | Impact of Vaccination and Public Health Measures on the Severity of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Infections in China: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of Vaccination and Public Health Measures on the Severity of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Infections in China: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis |
| title_short | Impact of Vaccination and Public Health Measures on the Severity of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Infections in China: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis |
| title_sort | impact of vaccination and public health measures on the severity of sars cov 2 omicron infections in china a systematic review and meta regression analysis |
| topic | COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 severity Omicron vaccine effectiveness inactivated vaccines |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/13/7/747 |
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