Saving prick: In Europe alone, the corona vaccinations could have saved more than a million lives, as WHO researchers now report after evaluating the epidemiological data. 96 percent of the avoided deaths affected the group of over 60-year-olds. The effect of the first booster vaccination was also particularly pronounced. About half of the cases saved from death by immunization occurred during the omicron wave.
Since the beginning of the corona pandemic, there has always been discussion about how dangerous the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is and how many deaths are really due to it. Estimates of the mortality rate and excess mortality initially differed widely. In March 2022, a global evaluation then showed that at least 18.2 million more people died during the corona pandemic than would have been the case without the pandemic. There have been more than two million corona deaths in Europe.
Vaccinations and their effects
Since the end of 2020, both mRNA vaccines and vector vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 have been available and have been vaccinated worldwide. They should protect against severe courses of Covid-19 and at least reduce the risk of infection. In Germany, around three quarters of the population have received at least two doses of the vaccine and are therefore basic immunized. However, the vaccinations were criticized because, in rare cases, serious side effects such as sinus vein thrombosis and heart muscle inflammation occurred.
The question of what the corona vaccinations have brought is all the more important. This has now been determined by a team of epidemiologists led by Margaux Meslé from WHO Europe. For their study, they evaluated the weekly death toll and vaccination rates in 26 European countries and regions between December 2020 and March 2023. On the basis of virological data and epidemiological models, they then calculated how high the excess mortality was with and without vaccination and how many deaths were avoided as a result of the vaccination.
A million fewer deaths
The result: The Covid-19 vaccines have saved at least a million people from death in Europe alone, as the team reports. This number includes only the deaths avoided directly through vaccination and its immunizing effect. Lives saved indirectly, for example by relieving the intensive care units and the otherwise poorer care of other diseases, are not included here.
The corona vaccinations had the greatest effect on older people aged 60 and over. 96 percent of the lives saved are in this high-risk group, as Meslé and his colleagues report. The booster vaccination also had the greatest protective effect in this age group. This third dose of vaccine could have prevented 64 percent of the deaths that otherwise occurred among the elderly.
Strong effect also with Omikron
Also interesting: The delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 was more pathogenic and caused more severe courses than the omicron variant, which has been dominant since the end of 2021. Still, the vaccines have primarily prevented deaths from the more infectious but less aggressive omicron variant. According to the WHO researchers, 57 percent of the lives saved escaped death by omicron. In absolute numbers, more than 568,000 deaths were avoided by vaccination during this phase of the pandemic.
“Our results demonstrate that the Covid-19 vaccines have saved many lives in Europe,” said Richard Pebody, Head of the WHO Europe High-Risk Pathogens Team. This applies above all to the vulnerable group of older people. (European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2023))
Quelle: European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
