Covid vaccines saved over one million lives in Europe

Corona vaccines have saved more than one million lives in Europe and countries of the former Soviet Union since the end of 2020, according to a scientific assessment.

This is according to a report published Monday by the World Health Organization (WHO). The figure was calculated based on death counts and vaccine doses administered in 26 countries. Since the outbreak of the Corona pandemic about three years ago, more than two million people in the WHO Europe region have been confirmed to have died from Covid-19, according to the report.

Vaccine effectiveness was weighted differently for each wave of the pandemic, depending on the predominant Corona variant. Indirect effects of vaccination were not considered, he said. Most people (96 percent) saved by the vaccines were older than 60 years, according to the report.

A particularly large number of deaths were prevented during the Omicron surge. The number of lives saved by vaccines during this phase was estimated at nearly 570,000.

WHO's area director for Europe, Richard Pebody, urged unvaccinated people to get protected. "We are seeing through our research the large number of lives saved by Covid-19 vaccine across Europe in the pandemic," Pebody said, according to a news release.

The World Health Organization's Europe region includes 53 countries, including Russia and several countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia, in addition to European Union and European Economic Area member states.

Photo by Laurynas Mereckas