The analysis of deaths in Austria in the fourth quarter of 2021 has shown that people who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 at least once, regardless of age and gender, have a significantly lower risk of death than unvaccinated people. According to Statistics Austria, the clearest differences were in older people.
“Unvaccinated people have a significantly higher risk of dying than those who have received at least one dose of the vaccine against Covid-19 – this is the case in almost all age groups and regardless of gender. However, we see the clearest differences among older people: in the period from September to December Around 2,884 out of 100,000 people over the age of 80 who were vaccinated at least once died in 2021. Among the unvaccinated in the same age group, the death rate was more than twice as high at 6,676 per 100,000,” reported Statistics Austria Director General Tobias Thomas in a broadcast on Tuesday.
Data from the National Vaccination Registry and data on deaths from September to December 2021 were used for the analysis. All deaths were taken into account in the evaluation, regardless of the cause of death, with a distinction being made between vaccinated people (all those who have received at least one dose of a vaccine against Covid-19 recognized in Austria) and unvaccinated people.
Statistics Austria finally pointed out in its broadcast that when interpreting the results, it should be taken into account that no reliable statements about causal relationships can be made with the available data. The differences are at least partly due to the fact that the group of unvaccinated people also includes people who cannot be vaccinated against Covid-19 due to serious previous illnesses. In addition, the vaccinated and the unvaccinated differed in socio-demographic terms and thus also in terms of mortality risk and life expectancy.
If one looks at the age-standardized death rate – in which the number of deaths is adjusted for the age structure of the population using a standard population – the following picture emerges: If the age structure of Austria corresponded to the standard population of Eurostat, in the four months from September to December 2021 around 584 out of 100,000 unvaccinated people died, but only 286 out of 100,000 vaccinated people.
In September there would have been 118 deaths out of 100,000 unvaccinated people, but only 65 deaths out of 100,000 vaccinated. In the two months that followed, the age-standardized death rate increased for both groups, but to different extents. In November 2021, the age-standardised mortality rate for the unvaccinated was 51 percent higher than in September, but only 24 percent for those who had been vaccinated at least once. In December, the age-standardised mortality rate fell again and was only four percent among the vaccinated, but still 41 percent above the September value for the unvaccinated. Based on every 100,000 people in December 2021, there were around 68 deaths among those who had been vaccinated at least once against Covid-19 and 166 deaths among those who had not been vaccinated.
Mortality rate more than doubles among the elderly
According to Statistics Austria, if you compare the death rates of individual age groups instead of the age-standardized death rates of the entire population, a similar picture emerges – although the clearest differences were in the oldest age groups: around 2,884 out of 100,000 died in the entire period from September to December 2021 people aged 80 and over who have been vaccinated at least once. For the unvaccinated of the same age, the death rate was more than twice as high, at 6,676 per 100,000. Among the 60- to 79-year-olds, the death rate among the unvaccinated (947 per 100,000) was almost twice as high as among those with at least one vaccine dose (483 per 100,000).
Similar differences were found in younger age groups, albeit at a generally much lower level: Based on every 100,000 people aged 40 to 59, there were 75 deaths among those who had been vaccinated at least once and 137 among those who had not been vaccinated; among 20 to 39-year-olds, there were 13 deaths among people with at least one vaccination against Covid-19 and around 22 among unvaccinated people.
Life expectancy seven years higher
Assuming that the mortality rates observed during the period under investigation remain unchanged at this level not only for a short period of time, but rather for an entire lifetime, there would also be clear differences in life expectancy between those who were vaccinated at least once and those who were not: for men, the average life expectancy of vaccinated people would be 80, 8 years and for unvaccinated 73.6 years. Vaccinated women would have a life expectancy of 85.6 years, compared to only 78.5 years for unvaccinated women. The difference in life expectancy between those who were vaccinated against Covid-19 at least once and those who were not was around seven years.
Source: Nachrichten
