Since February almost 99 deaths out of 100 are among people with an incomplete immunisation course

Iss, July 27th 2021 - People with a complete immunisation course have a higher average age and more pre-existing pathologies

Since last February, almost 99 out of 100 Covid deaths had not completed their immunisation course and those who had recorded a higher average age and more pre-existing pathologies than average. The statement was made in a detailed periodic report by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità -ISS (Italian National Institute of Health) on Covid deaths.

Up to 21 July, the number of deaths in SARS-COV-2-positive patients with a “complete immunisation course” were 423, representing 1.2% of all SARS-COV-2-positive deaths recorded since last 1 February, chosen as the date of reference as it corresponds to the five weeks necessary to complete the vaccination course from the beginning of the campaign. The analysis is based on a sample of 70 medical records of 423 SARS-COV-2-positive deaths of patients with a “complete immunisation course” (16.5%) at 21/07/2021. Compared to the total number of deaths for which the medical records were analysed, the average age was decidedly high (88.6 vs. 80 years of age) in the sample of deaths with a “complete immunisation course”. Moreover, the average number of pathologies observed in this group of deaths is of 5.0 (median: 5, Standard Deviation: 2.2), much higher than in the deaths in the general population (3.7, paragraph 3). After acute respiratory failure, superinfections are the most common complications in the people who died with a complete immunisation course. Antibiotic and steroid therapies are the most widely recommended for these patients.

“The results presented herein – concludes the report – can have two possible explanations. Firstly, very old patients with numerous pathologies can have a reduced immune response and therefore be susceptible to the SARS-CoV-2 infection and its complications even if they are vaccinated. Secondly, this result can be explained by the fact that priority was given to vaccinating older and more vulnerable people who thus represent the population segment with a prevalence of complete immunisation courses at the date in which the survey was taken.”