corona pandemic
WHO: Covid vaccines saved a million lives in Europe
A particularly large number of deaths could be prevented during the omicron wave. photo
© Sven Hoppe/dpa
According to the World Health Organization, more than two million people have died of Covid-19 in Europe since the outbreak of the pandemic. However, more than a million deaths have been prevented by the vaccines.
According to a scientific estimate, corona vaccines have saved more than a million lives in Europe and countries of the former Soviet Union since the end of 2020. This emerges from a report by the World Health Organization (WHO). This number was calculated on the basis of the number of deaths and the doses of vaccine administered in 26 countries. According to the report, more than two million people have died of Covid-19 in the WHO region of Europe since the outbreak of the corona pandemic around three years ago.
The effectiveness of the vaccines was weighted differently depending on the prevailing corona variant for the respective waves of the pandemic. Indirect effects of the vaccinations were not taken into account. Most of the people (96 percent) saved by the vaccines were older than 60, according to the report. A particularly large number of deaths could be prevented during the omicron wave. The number of lives saved by vaccination during this phase was estimated at almost 570,000.
The WHO’s Director of Division for Europe, Richard Pebody, called on unvaccinated people to be protected. “We see through our research what a large number of lives have been saved by the Covid-19 vaccines across Europe in the pandemic,” said Pebody, according to a statement.
The Europe region of the World Health Organization comprises 53 countries, including the member states of the European Union and the European Economic Area, Russia and several countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia.