Vaccines against Covid-19 prevented 19.8 million deaths in the first year after their introduction, in December 2021, according to research released this Thursday (23).
Published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, the work is based on data from 185 countries and territories collected from December 8, 2020 to December 8, 2021.
It is the first study to attempt to assess deaths directly or indirectly avoided after the start of the immunization campaign against the disease.
Their findings indicate that the vaccines prevented 19.8 million deaths out of a total of 31.4 million that would have been recorded had they not been available, representing a reduction of 63%.
For this, the study uses the official numbers of deaths from Covid, but also the excess mortality recorded in each country or an estimate when official data are not available.
Excess mortality corresponds to the difference between the number of people who died, regardless of the cause of death, and the number of deaths expected in that period.
The data were compared with an alternative hypothetical scenario in which vaccines would not have been administered.
The model took into account the differences in the vaccination rate between countries, as well as the different efficacies of each of the immunizers.
China was not included in the study because, due to its large population and stringent sanitary measures, it would have skewed the results, said those responsible for the research.
The study notes that the majority of deaths averted occurred in high- and middle-income countries (12.2 million out of 19.8 million), reflecting inequalities in access to vaccination worldwide.
Almost 600,000 deaths could have been avoided if the WHO (World Health Organization) target of vaccinating 40% of the population of each country by the end of last year had been achieved, the study added.
“Millions of lives would likely have been saved by making vaccines available to people around the world,” said study leader Oliver Watson of Imperial College London.
“We could have done more,” he added.
Covid-19 has officially claimed the lives of 6.3 million people worldwide, according to the WHO. However, the real number, counting direct and indirect victims, is estimated to be 15 million.
These statistics are highly politically sensitive as they reflect how authorities have managed this health crisis.
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