In this study, we used publicly available data from the Centrum e-Zdrowia (CeZ) Polish Databank proposing a possible correlation between influenza vaccination and mortality due to COVID-19. We limited our search to the patients with positive COVID-19 laboratory tests from 1 January 2020 to 31 March 2021 and who filled a prescription for any influenza vaccine during the 2019–2020 influenza season. In total, we included 116,277 patients and used a generalized linear model to analyze the data. We found out that patients aged 60+ who received an influenza vaccination have a lower probability of death caused by COVID-19 in comparison to unvaccinated, and the magnitude of this difference grows with age. For people below 60 years old, we did not observe an influence of the vaccination. Our results suggest a potential protective effect of the influenza vaccine on COVID-19 mortality of the elderly. Administration of the influenza vaccine before the influenza season would reduce the burden of increased influenza incidence, the risk of influenza and COVID-19 coinfection and render the essential medical resources accessible to cope with another wave of COVID-19. To our knowledge, this is the first study showing a correlation between influenza vaccination and the COVID-19 mortality rate in Poland.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, cross-protection, prevention, influenza vaccine, 【초록키워드】 Vaccine, vaccination, Mortality, Influenza, knowledge, risk, Poland, Probability, Patient, death, age, incidence, correlation, protective effect, COVID-19 mortality, Generalized linear model, Laboratory test, available data, positive COVID-19, medical resource, observé, caused, the patient, magnitude, reduce, Centrum, 【제목키워드】 Poland, Potential,