Interoperable digital health architecture for regulating covid-19 hospital beds: the case of Rio Grande do Norte
COVID-19; immunization; effectiveness; hospitalization
Since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, vaccination has been the main strategy to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in humans. This thesis proposes an integrated digital health architecture to analyze the impact of vaccination against COVID-19 on hospitalizations and deaths in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Data from 23,516 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 diagnosed between April 2020 and August 2021 were analyzed. Data from patients hospitalized due to direct occupation, unknown results and unconfirmed cases of COVID-19 were excluded, resulting in data from 12,635 patients with cross-reference with vaccination status during hospitalization. The results indicated that the administration of at least one dose of immunizers was sufficient to significantly reduce the occurrence of moderate and severe cases of COVID-19 in patients under 59 years of age. Considering partially or fully immunized patients, the average age is similar between the analyzed groups, despite the occurrence of comorbidities being higher than that observed among non-immunized ones. Thus, immunized patients have lower levels of the Unified Prioritization Score (UPS) when diagnosed with COVID-19. Data suggest that vaccination against COVID-19 significantly reduced hospitalization and death in elderly patients (60 years and older) after receiving at least one dose. Comorbidities do not change the average age of moderate/severe cases of COVID-19 and the days of hospitalization of these patients.