Both doses of vaccine provide around 98 per cent protection from death due to COVID: Govt citing study

The study was done by the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, in collaboration with the Punjab government

Both the doses of COVID-19 vaccine provide around 98 per cent protection from death due to the disease, while one dose gives nearly 92 per cent shield, the Centre said yesterday citing a study conducted on police personnel in Punjab.

The study was done by the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, in collaboration with the Punjab government.

Sharing the data of the study, Dr VK Paul, member (health),  NITI Aayog, said 4,868 police personnel were not vaccinated, and out of them, 15 died due to coronavirus infection, which comes down to 3.08 incidence per thousand.

Then, out of 35,856 police personnel who were administered one dose, nine died, which translates to 0.25 per thousand. A total of 42,720 received both doses of the vaccine and out of them, two died, which translates to 0.05 incidence per thousand, he said at a press conference.

“Police personnel fall in the high-risk group. From these numbers, we find that one dose offers 92 per cent protection from death while both doses give 98 per cent protection,” Paul said.

He added, “Such studies and their findings show that vaccination eliminates serious disease and deaths. So, have faith in the vaccines as they are effective and vaccines should be embraced.”