Highlights
In a recent study published on the preprint server * medRxiv , in response to reports of the total number of deaths associated with COVID-19 in 54 European nations, areas and territories (“CATs”), researchers from the European Network of WHO Respiratory Surveillance estimated the number of lives saved through vaccination efforts in Europe between December 2020 and March 2023. Their analyzes of weekly data on COVID-19-related mortality, along with dissemination reports and effectiveness of vaccination, allowed them to calculate the approximate number of lives saved directly by vaccination programs on the continent.
Their findings reveal that vaccination efforts reduced the number of deaths in Europe by 57%, representing ~1.4 million lives under 25 years of age, 96% of lives under 60 years of age, and 52% of lives under 80 years of age as it is the highest-risk cohort, with the effects of vaccination programs being more pronounced in people in this age group. Most lives were saved during the Omicron variant, the most devastating of the lockdown periods associated with COVID-19. These findings highlight the importance of keeping vaccines up-to-date against locally prevalent strains for those most at risk.
Summary
Estimated number of lives saved directly by COVID-19 vaccination programs in the WHO European Region, December 2020 to March 2023
Background
As of March 2023, 54 countries, areas and territories (hereinafter “CAT”) reported more than 2.2 million deaths from coronavirus disease 2019 to the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe ( COVID-19). Here, we estimate how many lives were directly saved by vaccinating adults in the Region, from December 2020 to March 2023.
Methods
We estimate the number of lives saved directly by age group, vaccine dose, and circulating variant of concern (VOC) period, both regionally and nationally, using weekly data on COVID-19 mortality and COVID-19 vaccine uptake. 19 reported by 34 CATs, and vaccine efficacy (VE) data from the literature. We calculated the percentage reduction in the number of expected and reported deaths.
Findings
We found that vaccines reduced deaths by 57% overall (CAT range: 15% to 75%), representing approximately 1.4 million lives saved in people aged ≥25 years (range: 0.7 million to 2 .6 million): 96% of the lives saved were ≥60 years old and 52% were ≥80 years old; The first reinforcements saved 51% and 67% were saved during the Omicron period.
Interpretation
For almost two and a half years, the majority of lives saved by COVID-19 vaccination were in older adults who received the first booster dose and during the Omicron period, reinforcing the importance of updated vaccination among these people higher risk. Additional modeling work should evaluate the indirect effects of vaccination and social and public health measures.
Conclusions The present study investigates the mortality prevention rate in Europe as a direct consequence of vaccination programs in the region. Their evaluations of 34 of the 54 available European CATs revealed that vaccination efforts saved 52% of all lives from COVID-19 between December 2020 and March 2023. Vaccination efficiency was highest in people aged 60 years or older. more and increased depending on the number of vaccination booster doses received. 57% of the lives saved occurred during the Omicron period. These findings highlight the importance of vaccine development and vaccination efforts to curb one of the worst pandemics in human history. It further underlines the importance of surveillance systems for variants of concern (VOC) and updating messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines to take into account locally prevalent VOCs. |
