This winter, COVID, influenza and their indirect effects on chronic disease care (particularly cardiovascular disease, CVD) probably represent the greatest challenges for the NHS. COVID and influenza can have direct (e.g. hospitalisation and mortality), indirect (e.g. reduced CVD procedures) and longer-term (e.g. Long Covid) health effects.
This work specifically aims to quantify the impact of COVID and influenza this winter, and to understand the relative importance of direct, indirect and longer-term effects.
The outputs of this work can inform how to prioritise policy and health system responses to winter pressures to reduce hospitalisation, mortality, waiting lists and Long Covid.
Outputs
Association of COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations and cardiovascular pharmacotherapy with hospitalisation and mortality in people with COVID-19 and Long COVID: 2-year follow-up of over 17 million people in England