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The imprinting effect of COVID-19 vaccines: an expected selection bias in observational studies
Susana Monge; Roberto Pastor-Barriuso; Miguel A Hernan.
Afiliación
  • Susana Monge; National Centre of Epidemiology, Institute of Health Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
  • Roberto Pastor-Barriuso; National Centre of Epidemiology, Institute of Health Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
  • Miguel A Hernan; CAUSALab and Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
Preprint en En | PREPRINT-MEDRXIV | ID: ppmedrxiv-22282923
ABSTRACT
Findings of recent observational studies have been interpreted as supporting immune imprinting of COVID-19 vaccines. In this work, we clarify that the current discussion can be mapped to an attempt to estimate the direct effect of vaccine boosters on SARS-CoV-2 reinfections, and that such direct effect cannot be correctly estimated with observational data. We conclude that recent observational estimates regarding immune imprinting are fundamentally biased, and that the increased risk of reinfection in individuals vaccinated with a vaccine booster compared to no booster is expected even if the immune imprinting hypothesis is false. We use graphical methods (directed acyclic graphs), data simulations and analysis of real-life data to illustrate the mechanism and magnitude of this bias.
Licencia
cc_by_nc_nd
Texto completo: 1 Colección: 09-preprints Base de datos: PREPRINT-MEDRXIV Tipo de estudio: Experimental_studies / Observational_studies / Prognostic_studies Idioma: En Año: 2022 Tipo del documento: Preprint
Texto completo: 1 Colección: 09-preprints Base de datos: PREPRINT-MEDRXIV Tipo de estudio: Experimental_studies / Observational_studies / Prognostic_studies Idioma: En Año: 2022 Tipo del documento: Preprint