According to a scientific assessment, corona vaccines have saved more than one million lives in Europe and countries of the former Soviet Union since the end of 2020. This is according to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), which was published this Monday.
This figure was calculated on the basis of death figures and vaccine doses administered in 26 countries. Since the outbreak of the Corona pandemic about three years ago, more than two million people have been proven to have died of Covid-19 in the WHO European Region, according to the report.
Weighted differently
The effectiveness of the vaccines was weighted differently depending on the predominant corona variant for the respective waves of the pandemic. Indirect effects of 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 were prevented during the Omicron wave. The number of lives saved by vaccination during this phase was estimated at just under 570,000.
The WHO's head of responsibility for Europe, Richard Pebody, called on unvaccinated people to get protected. "We see through our research what a large number of lives have been saved by the Covid-19 vaccine across Europe in the pandemic," Pebody said in 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, as well as Russia and several countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia.