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An annual COVID-19 vaccination campaign, in which second doses were administered to certain at-risk populations, was associated with reduced disease burden and health care costs, according to a new study led by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines recently approved for people 60 and older would dramatically reduce the disease’s significant burden of illness and death in the United States if they were widely adopted like annual influenza vaccines, a new study has found.

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the public health and economic vulnerabilities of the United States. As the public health emergency ends, it’s important to reflect on what we’ve learned, consider the persistent risk posed by emerging diseases, and identify steps to mitigate future pandemic threats.

COVID-19 vaccination has substantially reduced hospitalizations and deaths in the United States, despite the emergence of more-transmissible, immune-evasive variants. Nearly everyone in the U.S. is now eligible for vaccination, although second boosters are only currently available for people age 50 and older, or age 12 and older if immunocompromised.

Since COVID-19 vaccines first became available to protect against infection and severe illness, there has been much uncertainty about how long the protection lasts, and when it might be necessary for individuals to get an additional booster shot. Now, a team of scientists led by faculty at the Yale School of Public Health and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has an answer: strong protection following vaccination is short-lived.

In a new study, Yale epidemiologists hit upon a more practical strategy for COVID surveillance on the part of companies, teams, schools, and communities. With frequent, regular rapid antigen (RA) testing, plus isolating people who test positive, organizations can cut the risk of out-of-control COVID outbreaks effectively and make long quarantines a thing of the past, the researchers say.

If the U.S. had had a single-payer universal health care system in 2020, nearly 212,000 American lives would have been saved that year, according to a new study. In addition, the country would have saved $105 billion in COVID-19 hospitalization expenses alone.

How much worse could the US COVID-19 pandemic have been if vaccinations hadn't arrived in the nick of time in December 2020?

Three research publications in which YSPH faculty served as key authors are recognized as among the best papers of 2021.