Initial comparative analysis of pulmonary involvement on HRCT between vaccinated and non-vaccinated subjects of COVID-19

Objectives To compare the high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT)-derived severity score in COVID-19 patients between those who had earlier received the vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 and those who did not. Methods A retrospective cross-sectional analysis of HRCT of the chest was done in correlation with the vaccination status of clinically diagnosed COVID-19 patients. The variable under evaluation was the CT severity score, whereby differential analysis of the variability on this parameter between incompletely (single dose) vaccinated, completely (both doses) vaccinated, and non-vaccinated individuals was the outcome. Results The analysis included 826 patients of which 581 did not receive any vaccination whereas 196 patients received incomplete (single dose) vaccination and 49 received complete vaccination. Mean CT severity score was lower in completely vaccinated patients (3.5 +/- 6.3) vis-a-vis incompletely vaccinated (10.1 +/- 10.5) and non-vaccinated (10.1 +/- 11.4) individuals. The mean CT score was significantly lower in completely vaccinated patients of lower ages (<= 60 years) compared to patients above that age. The incidence of severe disease (CT score >= 20) was significantly higher in the incompletely vaccinated and non-vaccinated patients compared to that in the completely vaccinated group. Conclusions CT severity scores in individuals receiving both doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination were less severe in comparison to those receiving a single dose of vaccine or no vaccine at all.

Automated summary

This study aims to compare the high-resolution CT scores between COVID-19 patients who received the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and those who did not. The results show that individuals who received both doses of the vaccine had lower CT severity scores compared to those who received a single dose or no vaccine at all.