COVID-19 Vaccination Reduces Mortality Related to COPD

COVID-19 vaccination has been associated with reductions in long-term chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)-related mortality compared with a higher risk for patients who were unvaccinated or uninfected. The authors of the study published in Respiratory Research believe that vaccination could provide better outcomes for COPD and provide protection against COVID-19.¹

“To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that COVID-19 vaccination might lower the long-term annual mortality risk in individuals with COPD,” the study authors wrote. “Unvaccinated individuals who had COVID-19 had a greater than 10-fold increase in annual risk of death compared with vaccinated individuals who did not have COVID-19.”

In 2024, results of a study published in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation showed that COVID-19 vaccination decreased the degree of social isolation among patients with COPD, but it did not improve mental health, such as anxiety or depressive symptoms. Further, the authors found that the higher rates of anxiety and depressive symptoms worsened respiratory symptoms and increased the proportion of individuals reporting severe symptoms.²

In a later observational study in 2025, COVID-19 vaccination was not associated with an increased risk of developing various lung diseases, which supports the safety of the vaccine in respiratory health. There have been various studies that have shown an increased incidence of lung diseases following vaccination.² This has led to vaccine hesitancy of some patients with COPD, according to the authors of the current study.¹

The study authors used national cohort data to evaluate the long-term annual mortality risk for individuals with COPD based on COVID-19 vaccination as well as infection status. Data was used from the Korean National Health Insurance System. Investigators included patients 20 years and older with a confirmed diagnosis of COPD before February 26, 2021. Healthy participants were also included in the analysis. Infected patients had COVID-19 between October 8, 2020, and March 31, 2022.¹

Among the study population, approximately 64.8% were male, and 62% were aged between 60 and 79 years. Of the patients who were vaccinated, 96.8% received more than 2 doses. There was a median follow-up period of 420 days, and 79.6% of study individuals completed the follow-up.¹

Investigators reported that mortality rates were lowest for vaccinated and uninfected individuals at 281 per 10,000 person-years, followed by vaccinated and infected patients at 661 per 10,000 person-years, and unvaccinated and uninfected patients at 2106 per 10,000 person-years. The highest rate was for unvaccinated and infected individuals at 4510 per 10,000 person-years. For age ranges, unvaccinated and infected patients had the highest mortality risk for patients less than 65 years old and patients 65 years and older. Furthermore, among individuals who experienced severe COVID-19, vaccination did reduce the risk of mortality by approximately 70%, according to the study authors.¹

“We found that COVID-19 vaccination is associated with reduced annual mortality, suggesting its effectiveness as a preventive measure against related long-term adverse outcomes. COPD patients had a more than 10-fold increased risk of death from COVID-19 if they were unvaccinated,” the study authors wrote. “Interestingly, COVID-19 vaccination was also linked to a decreased annual mortality risk even in individuals without confirmed infection.”

READ MORE: Respiratory Resource Center

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REFERENCES

1. Kim SH, Kim JS, Kang MG, et al. Effect of COVID-19 vaccination and SARS-CoV-2 infection status on mortality risk in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a nationwide population-based cohort study. Respir Res. Published online January 3, 2026. doi:10.1186/s12931-025-03470-9

2. Fawzy A, Wang JG, Krings JG, et al. Impact of COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout on Mental Health, Social Determinants of Health, and Attitudes Among Individuals With COPD. Chronic Obstr Pulm Dis. 2024;11(5):496-506. doi:10.15326/jcopdf.2024.0537

3. Niu D, Song M, Chen M, Wu X, Zhang Y, Zhou R. COVID-19 vaccination status and the risk of developing lung diseases: A Mendelian randomization study. Medicine (Baltimore). 2025;104(28):e43102. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000043102