Analysis of 472,688 severe cases of COVID-19 in Brazil showed lower mortality in those vaccinated against influenza

Objective To analyze the severe cases of COVID-19 in Brazil in 2020 and compare those vaccinated and unvaccinated against influenza in invasive ventilation, admission in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and deaths. Method Cross-sectional study with public data from the OpenDataSUS platform, regarding confirmed severe cases for COVID-19 in Brazil in the year 2020. Data were analyzed by SPSS, from the chi-square test of independence and binary logistic regression. Results The population was 472,688 cases and 177,640 deaths, with a lethality of 37.58% in severe cases. The test of independence was highly significant in vaccinated survivors (<0.0001), and regression showed an almost twofold odds ratio for invasive ventilation, ICU admission, and death in unvaccinated cases. Conclusion We recommend mass influenza vaccination as an adjuvant in combating the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil.