Vaccination reduces the risk of severe forms of Covid-19 by 87% in people over 75 – Daiano Cristini / Sintesi / Sipa
The feedback from the first real-life study in France is rather positive. According to figures released on Friday, vaccination reduces the risk of severe forms of Covid-19 by 87% in people over 75 years old as early as seven days after the injection of the 2nd dose. This means that “vaccinated people over 75 years of age are nine times less likely to be hospitalized for Covid than unvaccinated people of the same age”, explains Professor Mahmoud Zureik, director of Epi-Phare who carried out the ‘study.
The Epi-Phare study associated with the Health Insurance and the Medicines Agency (ANSM), covered more than four million French people over the age of 75. Of these 4 million, some 1.4 million were vaccinated (between December 27, 2020 and February 24, 2021). The two populations were followed for a median of around 40 days.
More effective in younger people
At the time of the study, vaccinations in these age categories were done with mRNA vaccines. Among the vaccinees studied, 92% were with the vaccine from Pfizer / BioNTech, says the study. Efficiency, i.e. the reduction in the risk of being hospitalized for Covid, is better in younger people: it is 91% in 75-84 year olds and 81% in people 85 and over .
According to “preliminary results”, the reduction in the risk of death from Covid-19 in vaccines, seven days after the 2nd dose, is 91%, according to the authors of the study. Other countries have already conducted real-life efficacy studies of vaccines: the largest from Israel, champion of vaccination, with Pfizer / BioNTech.