Covid-19 vaccines saved approximately 19.8 million lives worldwide in the first year of the vaccination program (December 2020-December 2021), according to a new international scientific study.
Most deaths from coronavirus are estimated to have been prevented by vaccines in high- and middle-income countries (12.2 million). An estimated 600,000 more deaths would have been avoided if the World Health Organization (WHO) target of vaccinating 40% of each country’s population by the end of 2021 had been met – something that did not materialize.
The researchers, led by Dr. Oliver Watson of Imperial College London and published in the medical journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases, analyzed data from 185 countries. The mathematical modeling study estimates that vaccines reduced deaths that would otherwise have occurred by 63% (31.4 million).
79% of prevented deaths (15.5 million) are attributed to immediate protection of vaccines against serious disease, while the remaining 21% (4.3 million deaths) are due to indirect protection of vaccines due mainly to reduced coronavirus transmission .
“Our findings provide the most comprehensive assessment to date of the significant global impact of vaccination on the Covid-19 pandemic,” Watson said. He added, however, that “millions of lives were probably saved because vaccines became available everywhere, regardless of a country’s wealth. But more could have been done. If the WHO targets had been met, we estimate that one in five lives lost due to Covid-19 in low-income countries “.
Since the start of coronavirus vaccination (December 8, 2020), almost two-thirds of the world’s population (66%) has taken at least one dose. The WHO goal was to have 70% of the world’s population fully vaccinated by mid-2022. Despite the rapid rate of vaccinations, more than 3.5 million deaths from Covid-19 have been reported worldwide.
Link to the scientific publication: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(22)00320-6/fulltext
SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
Source: Capital
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