By March 2023, the corona vaccinations had saved more than 1.4 million lives in Europe, and about 25,000 in Austria. This is the result of a study by the World Health Organization (WHO) Respiratory Disease Surveillance Network. The work shows once again: ‘From the age of sixty it becomes critical’, and from the age of eighty the vaccination is ‘essential’, molecular biologist Martin Moder wrote on platform X on Wednesday. Most preventable deaths occurred after the third dose.
The research results have been published on a preprint server, which means that they have not yet been published in a specialized journal and have not been reviewed by other scientists. The researcher and ‘Science Buster’ Moder described it on X (formerly Twitter) as a “very good, timely study” about lives saved directly by vaccination.
‘Real figures probably still significantly higher than value’
Indirectly avoided deaths, for example due to reduced hospital occupancy, are not included. In addition, data from some major European countries such as Poland and Turkey are missing. “The real figures for Europe are likely to be significantly higher than these values,” Moder emphasizes. Moreover, SARS-CoV-2 continues to circulate even after the end of the study period.
The effects of the Covid-19 vaccination in adults were examined by age group, vaccination dose and period of variant circulation, the study authors note. Real data reported by 34 countries and territories in the WHO European Region were used. The researchers estimate that the corona vaccination programs among the population aged 25 and older were associated with a 57 percent decrease in deaths.
The result underlines the importance of vaccination
96 percent of deaths prevented in Europe affected people aged 60 and over. The third vaccination saved the most lives in Europe, around 721,000. Most deaths were avoided in the predominant phase of the omicron variant (67 percent). “Our results underline the importance of maintaining vaccination protection against Covid-19, especially in older populations,” the researchers emphasized. Vaccination campaigns should emphasize the value of vaccination in saving lives.
According to the study, the 25,000 lives saved in Austria by the end of March 2023 were compared with around 22,300 reported deaths to date. According to WHO calculations, without protection through vaccination, there would have been more than twice as many corona deaths in this country.
Side effects very rare
With more than 21 million Covid vaccinations administered in Austria to date, serious side effects have rarely been recorded. The Federal Office for Healthcare Safety (BASG) registered, among other things, two suspected deaths due to vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia. By the end of 2023, there had been a total of 2,251 cases related to the Covid vaccination claimed through the Vaccine Damage Act, the Department of Health said on Wednesday. In addition to thrombosis, this also included myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle), pericarditis (inflammation of the pericardium), Guillain-Barre syndrome, embolisms and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
To date, 846 applications have been rejected and 340 approved; At the beginning of this year, 1,065 procedures were still open, according to the office of Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens). Of the 340 awards, 281 were lump sum damages (one-off payments) between 1,305.50 and 8,683 euros. On average, around 1,900 euros was paid out. On average, approximately 560 euros in pension benefits (including special benefits) were paid out monthly and 26 pension benefits were definitively awarded.
Source: Krone
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