Maintaining influenza vaccination at high coverage has the potential to prevent a proportion of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. We examined whether flu-vaccination is associated with severe COVID-19 disease, as measured by ICU-admission, ventilator-use, and mortality. Other outcome measures included hospital length of stay and total ICU days. Our findings showed that flu-vaccination was associated with a significantly reduced likelihood of an ICU admission especially among aged <65 and non-obese patients. Public health promotion of flu-vaccination may help mitigate the overwhelming demand for critical COVID-19 care pending the large-scale availability of COVID-19 vaccines.
Association between Influenza Vaccination and severe COVID-19 outcomes at a designated COVID-only hospital in Brooklyn.