COVID-19 Vaccines Prevented 20 Million Deaths in Their First Year

According to a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases online on 23 June, vaccines prevented an estimated 19.8 million COVID-19-related deaths in the first year of COVID-19 vaccination.

Oliver J. Watson and colleagues from Imperial College London measured the global impact of the first year of COVID-19 vaccination programs by estimating the additional lives that would have been lost if no vaccines had become available. They estimated the additional deaths that would have been prevented if the vaccination coverage targets of 20 percent set by COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) and 40 percent set by the WHO (World Health Organization) had been met.

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The researchers estimate that vaccines prevented 19.8 million COVID-19-related deaths in 185 countries between 8 December 2020 and 8 December 2021.

An additional 45 percent of deaths in low-income countries could have been prevented if every country had met the COVAX target of 20 percent full/adequate vaccination coverage; an additional 111 percent of deaths could have been prevented if every country had met the WHO target of 40 percent by the end of 2021.

The authors write, "More lives could have been saved if vaccines had been distributed more rapidly to many parts of the world and vaccine uptake had been strengthened worldwide". Of course, vaccine distribution and production were not the only problems encountered during the pandemic; misinformation and harmful rumors (such as the claim that vaccines cause infertility) also significantly hindered vaccination of the population.

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