ABSTRACT
Introduction: As of June 27, 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused over 540 million infections and 6.3 million deaths. We aimed to investigate the effect of the vaccine on the clinical course of elderly patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit and to determine the prognosis of the patients according to their vaccination status. Material(s) and Method(s): The study included 157 patients over the age of 65. Patients were divided into two groups. The first group consisted of patients who were vaccinated with two doses of CoronaVac, and the second group consisted of patients who were not vaccinated. Demographic data of the patients, prehospital clinical frailty scales, Charlson Comorbidity Indexes, APACHE II scores, laboratory values, and patient prognoses were recorded. Result(s): Of the 157 patients, 93 (59.2%) were female, and the median age was 76 years (65-99). 96 (61.1%) patients were vaccinated and 61 (38.9%) patients were unvaccinated. Patients were grouped as survivors (n=26) and deceased. We found that APACHE II, prehospital clinical frailty scales, and Charlson Comorbidity Indexes scores were higher in patients who died. There was a significant difference between blood lymphocyte and ferritin levels and survival. The 28-day survival rate was higher and intensive care unit overall survival time were longer in the vaccinated group. Conclusion(s): We observed that the vaccinated patients had higher survival times and lower mortality rates than those who were not vaccinated. We think that it is important to vaccinate elderly patients and that additional doses may be needed. Copyright © 2022, Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved.