NEW DELHI: Senior government officials on Friday said both doses of vaccines provide at least 98% protection from Covid-19 death, citing a study by PGIMER, Chandigarh, in association with Punjab government.This real-life study has been carried out among police personnel of the state. The researcher showed that 15 deaths were reported among 4,868 non-vaccinated persons. This figure fell to nine among 35,856 who had received one dose.
The number of deaths fell to only two among 42,720 individuals who had received both doses, said VK Paul, member (health), Niti Aayog, and chairman of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration.
In other words, while death was 3.08 per thousand in the unvaccinated, it was 0.25 per thousand in those with partial vaccination and 0.005 per thousand in those fully vaccinated. In relative terms, this study showed that partial vaccination offered 92% protection from death due to Covid in those with one dose and 98% in those who were fully vaccinated.
Last month, citing the first studies from India from healthcare workers, Paul had underlined that vaccines offer substantial risk reduction against hospitalisation, ICU care and need for oxygen. These studies had come from PGI, Chandigarh, and Christian Medical College, Vellore, and showed that vaccination offered 75-80% risk reduction against hospitalisation from infection in vaccinated individuals, as compared to those unvaccinated. The government is repeatedly citing the findings from such studies to give an impetus to its ongoing Covid vaccination drive.