COVID fatigue: Why continued vaccination matters five years on

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Vaccines

COVID fatigue: Why continued vaccination matters five years on

June 2025

By Abbey Palmer

Wednesday 28 May 2025, 12:35 AM

Older people are at increased risk of COVID-19 hospitalisation and mortality [Image: Guido Hofmann on Unsplash].

This article discusses the drop in COVID-19 vaccine uptake that has not been matched by a drop in risk. Protection of vulnerable groups remains a priority

Key points, COVID-19 continues to cause severe illness and deaths. Māori and Pacific peoples have a greater risk than other ethnicities. Ongoing vaccination h, Pract Green w Pale Yellow

COVID-19

References

1. Baker M, Kvalsvig A, Potter JD, Harwood M, Wilson N. Five years on, COVID-19 remains NZ’s most important infectious disease – it still demands a strong response. Public Health Communication Centre Aotearoa, 26 February 2025.

2. Meyerowitz EA, Scott J, Richterman A, Male V, Cevik M. Clinical course and management of COVID-19 in the era of widespread population immunity. Nat Rev Microbiol 2024;22(2):75–88.

3. Xie Y, Choi T, Al-Aly Z. Postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the pre-Delta, Delta, and Omicron eras. N Engl J Med 2024;391(6):515–25.

4. Xie Y, Xu E, Bowe B, Al-Aly Z. Long-term cardiovascular outcomes of COVID-19. Nat Med 2022;28(3):583–90.

5. Rathmann W, Kuss O, Kostev K. Incidence of newly diagnosed diabetes after COVID-19. Diabetologia 2022;65(6):949–54.

6. Bozkurt B, Kamat I, Hotez PJ. Myocarditis with COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. Circulation 2021;144(6):471–84.

7. Faksova K, Walsh D, Jiang Y, et al. COVID-19 vaccines and adverse events of special interest: A multinational Global Vaccine Data Network (GVDN) cohort study of 99 million vaccinated individuals. Vaccine 2024;42(9):2200–11.

How to Treat

+How to treat

For older people and frail people, the long-term benefit of medicines reduces and the potential for harm from adverse effects increases. When the benefit–risk balance changes in this way, medicine review and optimisation are important to simplify the therapeutic regimen, reduce inappropriate medicines and minimise risks. In this article, pharmacist prescriber Linda Bryant uses two case studies to illustrate important considerations during medicine reviews

Wednesday 28 May 2025, 12:50 AM