Fully-vaccinated? 81% lower risk of Covid-19 mortality: Star Health Insurance study

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With the unlockdown and people flocking to hill stations and other places, it seems the third wave of Covid-19 is not far away. However, what is different now is the vaccination drive that is going on. According to a study by Star Health and Allied Insurance – done on Covid-19 patients above 45 years – there is 81 per cent lower chances of mortality due to Covid-19 in fully-vaccinated people.

Among those who received two doses of vaccination there was a 66 per cent relative risk reduction in ICU stay and 81 per cent relative risk reduction in mortality, the report noted.

Even among those with co-morbidities, a single dose was able to significantly reduce ALOS (average length of stay) and hospital expenses.

“While the need for ICU for patients with comorbidities fell from 9.4% to 5% among those vaccinated, the treatment cost also reduced by nearly 15%,” the report said.

The report, a retrospective cohort study from India, aimed at studying the impact of vaccination on reducing the ALOS, intensive care unit (ICU) requirement, mortality and cost of the treatment among Covid-19 patients.

Medical expenses

Among other vaccine benefits, it says mean hospital expense was 24% less in vaccinated patients.

“The average cost of hospitalisation of the unvaccinated group was Rs 2.77 lakh, while the vaccinated group recorded an average cost of Rs 2.1 lakh. The reduction in cost was due to factors like reduced need of ICU requirement and reduction in the length of hospital stay from an average of 7 days among unvaccinated to an average of 4.9 days for the vaccinated group,” the report said.

Insights

The cohort study surveyed customers of Star Health and Allied Insurance Company who were admitted for Covid-19 treatment in 1,104 hospitals across the country. The study was conducted during the second wave (March & April 2021) and considered a sample size of 3,820 hospitalized patients from across India who were 45 years and above.

S Prakash, Managing Director, Star Health and Allied Insurance says that the beginning of 2021 saw a breakthrough in vaccine discovery against Covid-19, making it the fastest vaccine discovery till date. “Our aim was to measure and understand in exact terms the impact of Covid-19 vaccination in patients who contracted the illness 14 days after the second dose versus unvaccinated patients, thus making it a unique research in its own right.”