Background The COVID-19 pandemic poses a significant global health threat, characterized
by high morbidity, severity, and the emergence of concerning variants. Latin America has
been greatly affected, with high infection and mortality rates. Vaccination plays a crucial role
in mitigating severe disease and controlling the pandemic. This study aims to assess the
effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in preventing SARS-CoV-2 severe acute respiratory
infections (SARI) in hospitalized vaccination target groups in Ecuador. Methods This is a test …