Vaccination against covid-19 has prevented the deaths of more than 43,000 elderly people between the ages of 70 and 79 in Brazil. The survey was conducted by researchers from Harvard Universities in the United States and the Federal University of Pelotas in Rio Grande do Sul. Scientists estimated that the advance of immunization was the factor responsible for preventing the number of deaths in a thirteen-week interval.
Calculations revealed a gradual decrease in the proportion of deaths from disease in this age group from 28% to 16%. Among seniors over 80, the numbers dropped from 28% to 12%.
For people aged 70-79 years, coverage of first dose vaccination reached half of the population in this age group in the last week of March, reaching 90% in the first half of May. From this coverage, the group of researchers was able to determine the decrease in the number of deaths.
The progression of immunization coverage among people aged 70 and over is in line with priority given to older population groups, while coverage among younger age groups has been limited to priority groups such as health workers, indigenous people and people living in institutions
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The research shows that the number of deaths from COVID-19 at all ages has increased since the end of February, due to the rapid spread of the gamma variant (formerly P.1) across the country. The breed was first identified in December in the state of Amazonas.
The CoronaVac vaccine, developed by the Butantan Institute in partnership with Chinese pharmaceutical Sinovac, and the immunizing agent AstraZeneca developed in partnership with the University of Oxford, have shown effectiveness in combating the gamma variant, according to the study.
CoronaVac vaccine made 65.4% and AstraZeneca/Oxford 29.8% of all doses administered throughout January, while the proportions were 36.5% for CoronaVac and 53.3% for AstraZeneca/Oxford between mid-April and mid-May. Immunization devices from Pfizer/BioNTech (Germany) and the Serum Institute (India) accounted for the remaining doses in the most recent period.
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