A study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases shows that COVID-19 vaccines prevented nearly 20 million deaths in the first year after they were introduced, as reported. The report was released on Friday and is based on data from 185 countries and territories. The data has been collected from December 8, 2020, to December 8, 2021.
It is the first attempt to estimate the number of deaths prevented directly and indirectly as a result of COVID-19 vaccinations. Moreover, It found that 19.8 million deaths were prevented out of a potential 31.4 million deaths; that would have occurred if no vaccines were there.
The study found that it was a 63 percent reduction. The study used official figures or estimates when official data was not available for deaths from COVID-19. Thereafter, it took into account total excess deaths from each country. (Xanax Online) These analyses were compared with a hypothetical alternative scenario in which no vaccine was administered.
More on the study
The model accounted for variation in vaccination rates across countries. It also took note of differences in vaccine effectiveness; based on the types of vaccines known to have been primarily used in each country. The study found that high- and middle-income countries accounted for the largest number of deaths averted. That being, 12.2 million out of 19.8 million, reflecting inequalities in access to vaccines worldwide.
According to the WHO, COVID-19 has officially killed more than 6.3 million people globally. Nearly 600,000 additional deaths could have been prevented if the World Health Organization’s (WHO) goal of vaccinating 40 percent of each country’s population by the end of 2021 had been met, it concluded. As reported, the lead study author Oliver Watson of Imperial College London said, “Millions of lives have probably been saved by making vaccines available to people around the world.”
