Vaccination is over 90 percent effective at preventing deaths from the Delta variant of COVID-19, according to the first country-level data on mortality.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 90 percent effective and the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine 91 percent effective in preventing deaths in people who have been double vaccinated, but who have tested positive for coronavirus in the community, research shows.
The study, using data from the Scotland-wide EAVE II COVID-19 surveillance platform, is the first to show across an entire country how effective vaccines are at preventing death from the Delta variant, which is now the dominant form of COVID-19 in the UK and many other countries.
Researchers analyzed data from 5.4 million people in Scotland between April 1 and September 27, 2021.
During this period, 115,000 people tested positive for COVID-19 through a PCR test conducted in the community, rather than in the hospital, and there were 201 deaths recorded due to the virus.
The Moderna vaccine is also available in Scotland and no deaths have been recorded in those who have been double vaccinated with it. Consequently, it has not been possible to estimate its effectiveness in preventing death, researchers said.
Researchers defined death from COVID-19 as anyone who died within 28 days of a positive PCR test, or with COVID-19 recorded as a cause of death on their death certificate.
The research team from Universities of Edinburgh and Strathclyde and Public Health Scotland analyzed a dataset as part of the EAVE II project, which uses anonymized linked patient data to track the pandemic and the vaccine rollout in real-time.
The results are published as a letter in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The researchers say to increase confidence in these early findings, the research needs to be repeated in other countries and settings, and with longer follow-up time after full vaccination.
The team says that because of the observational nature of the study, data about vaccine effectiveness should be interpreted with caution and it is not possible to make a direct comparison between both vaccines.
Professor Aziz Sheikh, Director of the University of Edinburgh’s Usher Institute and EAVE II study lead, said: “With the Delta variant now the dominant strain in many places worldwide and posing a higher risk of hospitalization than previous variants seen in the UK, it is reassuring to see that vaccination offers such high protection from death very shortly after the second dose.”
“If you still have not taken up your offer to be vaccinated, I would encourage you to do so based on the clear benefits it offers.”
Professor Chris Robertson, University of Strathclyde and Public Health Scotland, said: “This study shows the value of carrying out analyses of routine healthcare data available in near real-time.
“Our findings are encouraging in showing that the vaccine remains an effective measure in protecting both ourselves and others from death from the most dominant variant of COVID-19. It is very important to validate these early results in other settings and with a longer follow-up study.”
Reference: “BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 Vaccine Effectiveness against Death from the Delta Variant” by Aziz Sheikh, M.D., Chris Robertson, Ph.D. and Bob Taylor, Ph.D., 20 October 2021, New England Journal of Medicine.
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc2113864
The study was funded by the Medical Research Council, UK Research and Innovation Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, the National Institute for Health Research and Health Data Research UK (HDR UK), and was supported by the Scottish Government.
Additional support was provided through the Scottish Government Director-General Health and Social Care, and the UKRI COVID-19 National Core Studies Data and Connectivity program led by HDR UK.
Never miss a breakthrough: Join the SciTechDaily newsletter.
Follow us on Google and Google News.
10 Comments
I am a 71 y.o. male with COPD. I use a Advair Diskus twice a day. In July of 2020 I became real short of breath and felt plain ol lousy. I could only walk about 50′ before I had to stop. I went to my doctor. Several days before the appointment I was feeling OK. At my appointment he told me I was fine but after a chest x-ray a scar on my lung was found. I think I had the virus but the inhaler lessened the effects
Skewed data. “Inconclusive”, by admission. And YET, the recommendation is to get the JAB. “TAG-ALONG” article below defines the “mysteriously” unique characteristics of the ∆Varient… Hmm… See you in three months when/if the VAC variant attenuates in its efficaciousness. Been there done that with the Scfirst two, accompanied as well by “reassuring” “scientific” pomp, circumstance and certainty.
Yadda-yadda…
✋
True … official stories like this are definitely not to be trusted ..
These alphabet soup organizations (medical or otherwise) are to be looked at sidewise. You believe them at your own risk.
Really? Than why are most of the Hospitizations Right Now, People Who Have Been Vaccinated?? I’ve Done my Research & New Research out of Isreal Shows people who have been Vaccinated are 27x more likely to Catch & Spread Covid & People who are Unvaccinated have had Covid & Recovered, have 13x more Prortection from Covid than the Vaccinated!!! Than There is the
“Metal Fragments”, that have been found in the Vaccine, that all different Doctors have found under the Microscope!!
I don’t know, should I listen to empirical data, or a bunch of pillbillies on disability welfare?
Last I heard, the case death rate from Covid-19 was under 3% for old people, under 1% for young ones. That would be a survival rate of at least 97%.
Your article implies that the vaccines make people MORE likely to die from Covid – which they don’t prevent people from getting.
In any case, it’s not impressive. You might want to run this past the scientific sources; was something lost in translation?
Vaccines improve your odds.
Odds against being infected in the first place, and if you do get infected they reduce the severity.
It’s obvious, as populations approach full vaccination there are fewer unvaccinated.
And eventually, most of the severe cases inevitably must be vaccinated people.
Not because vaccination didn’t work, but because there aren’t many unvaccinated people left.
The article states that Pfizer and A/Z vaccines reduce deaths by 90% compared to no vaccine.
And Moderna did not have even one death.
Every poker player understands playing the odds. This isn’t any different.
But the stakes are.
You bet your life.
Proof? There isn’t any. It’s just assertions from Big Pharma – whose main interest is in selling more vacs … not in saving lives!
Defective article, the numbers don’t add up. 90% effectivity against death from COVID is useless. The human immune system is much more effective than this without vaccination. Our local death rate for known cases is just over 2%. The actual death rate is considerably less, since many cases are mild and never show up on a test. The author needs to do a little homework.
Numbers quoted in the article show 201 deaths in 115,000 community tested people. That’s a death rate of less than 0.2%. And – were these people vaccinated or not? What gives?
The only interesting point is that Moderna is so much more effective than the other vaccines, which is consistent with other recent studies.