Abstract

Objective: In this study, we aimed to analyze real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) positive elderly patients (≥ 65 years old) admitted to the hospital with symptomatic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection regarding their vaccination status.

Methods: The study included 151 COVID-19 patients aged ≥ 65 years old, admitted to the hospital between March 10 and June 30, 2021. The study group was divided into two groups: Group 1 consisted of patients who had two doses of inactive vaccine, administered at four weeks interval, and Group 2 consisted of unvaccinated patients who had no vaccination at all or got one dose of vaccine or had an infection within 15 days of completion of the vaccination schedule. We compared the two groups based on demographic, clinical, laboratory, and mortality data.

Results: Groups 1 and 2 included 78 and 73 patients, respectively. There was no significant difference between groups regarding gender distribution, age, intensive care admission, number of underlying diseases, and laboratory and radiological findings. However, the number of comorbidities and mortality showed a significant positive correlation. Also, the presence of desaturation was significantly associated with mortality.

Conclusion: In this study, we established that an inactive virus vaccine had no significant protectivity for the severity of disease and mortality in the elderly population.