Uruguay reports Covid vaccines reduce deaths and ICU admissions by over 90%

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Covid-19-related intensive care admissions and deaths have been reduced by over 90% in Uruguay’s general population who have taken both doses of the CoronaVac and Pfizer vaccines, a report released by the government on Tuesday stated.

The country, with a population of 3.5 million, has been conducting a successful vaccination campaign, which places it alongside Chile at the forefront of immunization in South America.

Nevertheless, Uruguayans are experiencing a strong wave of infections, which place the country among the first in the world in number of deaths per million inhabitants.

According to Ministry of Public Health data, almost 52% of the population has been administered one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and 29% has been immunized with both vaccine doses by June 1. The report’s results include people vaccinated with both doses after more than 14 days after the last one was administered.

With respect to the CoronaVac vaccine, developed by Chinese Sinovac Biotech, the study showed that “in all subgroups analyzed, the percentage of efficacy in reducing incidence of cases exceeds 61%; the reduction in intensive care unit (ICU) admissions is over 92%, and the reduction in deaths from the disease exceeds 95%.”

The CoronaVac subgroups correspond to the population segments aged between 18 and 49 and between 50 and 69.

Concerning the vaccine developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, the document adds that “the percentage of efficacy in reducing incidence of cases exceeds 78%, in reducing ICU admissions exceeds 94%, and in preventing deaths is above 94%.” Pfizer’s immunizer was intended for people aged 80 and older, and for healthcare professionals.

Source: Swissinfo