ISS, 15.05.2021 - The risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection causing hospitalization and death has collapsed among vaccinated individuals. These are the main results obtained at national level from the joint analysis of the national vaccine register and the COVID-19 Integrated Surveillance System contained in the report, "COVID-19 vaccine surveillance" drawn up by the Working Group of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità - ISS (Italian National Institute of Health), and the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the regional representatives of the COVID-19 Integrated Surveillance System and with the regional representatives of the national vaccine registry.
The report presents the data from 27 December 2020 (date when the vaccination campaign started in Italy) to 3 May 2021, which refer to 13.7 million vaccinated individuals. The data show that 95% of people vaccinated with the Comirnaty or Moderna vaccine completed the vaccination course, receiving the two doses within the timeframe indicated by the vaccination calendar while, for the AstraZeneca vaccine, none of the people included in the study had received the full course.
The joint analysis showed that the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, hospitalization and death progressively decreased after the first two weeks. From 35 days after the start of the vaccination program, there was an 80% reduction in infections, 90% reduction in hospitalizations and 95% in deaths; these effects are similar for both men and women and for people of different age groups.
"These data” - comments the President of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità - ISS, Silvio Brusaferro – “confirm the effectiveness of the vaccines and of the vaccination campaign, and therefore it is most urgent to quickly cover as much as possible of the population so that, thanks to this fundamental tool, we can start recovering from the emergency".
