COVID-19 vaccines are effective in people with obesity: A position statement from The Obesity Society

Abstract

The position statement is issued by The Obesity Society in response to published literature, as well as inquiries made to the Society by patients, providers, Society members, policy makers, and others regarding the efficacy of vaccines in persons with obesity against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The Obesity Society has critically evaluated data from published peer-reviewed literature and briefing documents from Emergency Use Authorization applications submitted by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson. We conclude that these vaccines are highly efficacious, and their efficacy is not significantly different in people with and without obesity, based on scientific evidence available at the time of publication. The Obesity Society believes there is no definitive way to determine which of these three COVID-19 vaccines is “best” for any weight subpopulation (because of differences in the trial design and outcome measures in the phase 3 trials, elapsed time between doses, and regional differences in the presence of SARS-CoV-2 variants [e.g., South Africa B.1.351 in Johnson & Johnson trial]). All three trials have demonstrated high efficacy against COVID-19–associated hospitalization and death. Therefore, The Obesity Society encourages adults with obesity ≥18 years (≥16 years for Pfizer-BioNTech) to undergo vaccination with any one of the currently available vaccines authorized for emergency use by the US Food and Drug Administration as soon as they are able.