Vaccines saved 1.6 million lives in Europe; COVID death toll could have reached four million without immunisation, according to new WHO study. 

From the time of their introduction in December 2020 through to March 2023, COVID-19 vaccines reduced deaths due to the pandemic by at least 59 per cent, saving more than 1.6 million lives in the WHO European Region. The findings of a WHO study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine this month note that COVID-19 death toll in the Region – currently estimated at 2.2 million – might have been as high as four million without the vaccines. Most of those saved were aged 60 or older, the group at highest risk of severe illness and death from the viral infection.

The study’s author, Dr Margaux Meslé from WHO/Europe, said, “The results are clear: COVID-19 vaccination saves lives. Our findings remind us of the integral role played by vaccines to ensure people return to a semblance of their pre-pandemic lives across the Region, in work and leisure. Without the enormous vaccination effort, we would have seen many more livelihoods disrupted and families losing the most vulnerable among them.”

The study found that COVID-19 vaccination saved most lives during the period when the Omicron variant was dominant, from December 2021 to March 2023. Countries that implemented early vaccination programmes covering large parts of the population – such as Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Malta and the United Kingdom – saw the greatest benefit in terms of overall number of lives saved.

WHO said the findings are highly relevant today, over 12 months after WHO, in May 2023, declared that COVID-19 was no longer a public health emergency of international concern. While the absolute number of cases is lower than the winter wave, which peaked in December 2023, COVID-19 infections in the Region this summer are still causing hospitalisations and deaths. 

“Over the past few weeks, a number of countries in the Region have reported an uptick in the number of cases – a summer wave of COVID-19. This is a timely reminder that while COVID-19 is fading into distant memory for millions of people, the virus has not gone away,” the WHO said.

Getting an updated COVID-19 vaccine remains an extremely effective tool to reduce both hospitalisations and deaths in high-risk individuals, which includes people who are older or immune-compromised, those with multiple underlying medical conditions, pregnant women, and health personnel who may be easily exposed, WHO said. Additionally, getting an updated vaccine also reduces one’s chances of developing long COVID. 

As peaks are experienced during the summer, it is impossible to predict how the virus will behave for the remainder of 2024. Multiple waves could be possible as countries in the Region have transitioned from crisis management to sustainable, integrated, longer-term disease management.  

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