A preliminary major analysis of COVID-19 vaccines revealed that vaccines contributed to reducing the global death toll from HIV infection by 20 million people in the first year after their availability.
The study, which modeled the spread of the disease in 185 countries and regions between December 2020 and December 2021, found that without Covid-19 vaccines, the epidemic could have killed 31.4 million people, and that 19.8 million of these deaths were averted.
The study is the first attempt to determine the number of deaths that have been prevented directly and indirectly as a result of Covid-19 vaccines, according to the British newspaper The Guardian.
According to the newspaper, co-first author on the study, Oliver Watson, of Imperial College London, which was conducted by scientists at the university, said: "More deaths could have been prevented if access to vaccines had been more equal worldwide."
He added that the research found that nearly 600,000 additional deaths, one in every 5 deaths from Covid in low-income countries, could have been prevented if the World Health Organization's global goal of vaccinating 40% of the population of each country by the end of the year. year 2021.
"Our findings show that millions of lives were likely saved by providing vaccines to people everywhere, regardless of their wealth...However, more could have been done," Watson continued.
He said that while the provision of vaccines around the world remains vital, especially to individuals at high risk, in many parts of the world with low vaccine coverage, there have been high levels of immunity due to previous infection, which means that the opportunity to save lives has narrowed .
Since the first COVID vaccine was administered out of clinical trials on December 8, 2020, nearly two-thirds of the world's population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, and the Global Access to COVID-19 Vaccines Initiative (COVAX) has facilitated access to affordable vaccines for low-income countries in Attempt to reduce disparities.
The study, published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, used official numbers, or estimates when official data were not available, for deaths from Covid-19, as well as the total excess deaths from each country, meaning excess deaths are the difference between the total number of people who died. Of all the causes and the number of deaths expected based on previous data, and in many countries, these numbers give the most reliable picture of Covid deaths.
The numbers may represent an upper bound on the number of deaths that would have been averted in the absence of vaccines, because policies regarding lockdowns, for example, would have been different.
Professor Azra Ghani, Head of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Imperial College London, said: “Our study demonstrates the enormous benefit of vaccines in reducing deaths from COVID-19 globally. While the intense focus on the pandemic has now shifted, it is important that we ensure that people are protected. The most vulnerable people around the world from the ongoing circulation of COVID-19 and from other major diseases that continue to disproportionately affect the poorest.”
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