Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the impact of COVID-19 vaccines in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the trend of COVID-19-related hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and case fatality rate (CFR), this retrospective chart review was conducted.

Methods: We included patients admitted to two tertiary hospitals from October 2020 to July 2022. Patients were categorized into non-vaccinated, partiallyvaccinated, and fully-vaccinated groups.

Results: A total of 2277 cases were included, with 27.49% being non-vaccinated. The monthly trend of admitted patients dropped from 1264 (56.50%) cases in the first half of 2021 to 194 (8.67%) cases in the first half of 2022, with a reduction rate of 84.65%. The trend of ICU admission followed the overall hospital admission rate, with an overall CFR of 0.88%, 95% CI (0.54% to 1.35%), and a virulence rate of 1.76%, 95% CI (1.26% to 2.38%). The incidence of ICU admission in the unvaccinated group was 4.79%, compared to 0% and 0.97% in the partially-vaccinated and fullyvaccinated groups, respectively (p <0.001). The CFR was significantly (p <0.001) higher in the unvaccinated group 2.88%, 95% CI (1.71 to 4.51) than in the partially-vaccinated 0%, 95% CI (0% to 0.59%) and fully-vaccinated groups 0.19%, 95% CI (0.02% to 0.70%).

Conclusion: Among the study population, COVID-19 vaccines showed promising efficacy in reducing the trend of COVID-19-related hospitalization, ICU admission, and mortality. Full vaccination might reduce the burden of COVID-19 on healthcare.

Keywords: COVID-19, Vaccine, Intensive care, Mortality, Fatality rate, Hospital.