Almost 40% of people hospitalized in the U.S. with the COVID-19 subvariant that circulated this spring were vaccinated and boosted, highlighting how new strains have mutated to more readily escape the immunity offered by current shots.
The findings from scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention underscore the importance of having COVID-19 shots that are better at targeting omicron subvariants.
From the end of March through May, when the omicron BA.2 and BA.2.12.1 subvariants were dominant in the U.S., weekly hospitalization rates increased for all adults — with those over 65 hit the hardest. Even so, the total number of hospitalizations remained much lower than when the delta variant was rampant last fall.
