Paper information
- Authors
-
- Will Hulme,
- Elsie Horne,
- Edward Parker,
- Ruth Keogh,
- Elizabeth Williamson,
- Venexia Walker,
- Tom Palmer,
- Helen Curtis,
- Alex Walker,
- Colm Andrews,
- Amir Mehrkar,
- Jess Morley,
- Brian MacKenna,
- Seb Bacon,
- Ben Goldacre,
- Miguel Hernán,
- Jonathan Sterne
- Citation
- Hulme W J, Horne E M F, Parker E P K, Keogh R H, Williamson E J, Walker V et al. Comparative effectiveness of BNT162b2 versus mRNA-1273 covid-19 vaccine boosting in England: matched cohort study in OpenSAFELY-TPP BMJ 2023; 380 :e072808
- Categories
Objective
To compare the effectiveness of the BNT162b2 mRNA (Pfizer-BioNTech) and mRNA-1273 (Moderna) covid-19 vaccines during the booster programme in England.
Design
Matched cohort study, emulating a comparative effectiveness trial.
Setting
Linked primary care, hospital, and covid-19 surveillance records available within the OpenSAFELY-TPP research platform, covering a period when the SARS-CoV-2 delta and omicron variants were dominant.
Participants
3,237,918 adults who received a booster dose of either vaccine between 29 October 2021 and 25 February 2022 as part of the national booster programme in England and who received a primary course of BNT162b2 or ChAdOx1.
Intervention
Vaccination with either BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 as a booster vaccine dose.
Main outcome measures
Recorded SARS-CoV-2 positive test, covid-19 related hospital admission, covid-19 related death, and non-covid-19 related death at 20 weeks after receipt of the booster dose.
Results
1,618,959 people were matched in each vaccine group, contributing a total 64,546,391 person weeks of follow-up. The 20 week risks per 1000 for a positive SARS-CoV-2 test were 164.2 (95% confidence interval 163.3 to 165.1) for BNT162b2 and 159.9 (159.0 to 160.8) for mRNA-1273; the hazard ratio comparing mRNA-1273 with BNT162b2 was 0.95 (95% confidence interval 0.95 to 0.96). The 20 week risks per 1000 for hospital admission with covid-19 were 0.75 (0.71 to 0.79) for BNT162b2 and 0.65 (0.61 to 0.69) for mRNA-1273; the hazard ratio was 0.89 (0.82 to 0.95). Covid-19 related deaths were rare: the 20 week risks per 1000 were 0.028 (0.021 to 0.037) for BNT162b2 and 0.024 (0.018 to 0.033) for mRNA-1273; hazard ratio 0.83 (0.58 to 1.19). Comparative effectiveness was generally similar within subgroups defined by the primary course vaccine brand, age, previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, and clinical vulnerability. Relative benefit was similar when vaccines were compared separately in the delta and omicron variant eras.
Conclusions
This matched observational study of adults estimated a modest benefit of booster vaccination with mRNA-1273 compared with BNT162b2 in preventing positive SARS-CoV-2 tests and hospital admission with covid-19 20 weeks after vaccination, during a period of delta followed by omicron variant dominance.