2 Vaccine Doses Gave 95% Protection From Death: ICMR Study

New Delhi: A large-scale, real-life study conducted by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has found that two doses of COVID-19 vaccine – be it Covishield or Covaxin — ensured 95 per cent protection from death.

ICMR conducted the study during the peak of the second wave of coronavirus pandemic, which was driven by Delta variant of the virus.

Niti Aayog member (health) Dr VK Paul informed on Friday that the study was done on 1,17,525 police personnel in Tamil Nadu. Among them, 17,059 did not receive any vaccine of whom 20 died after being infected with the virus. Out of 32,792 cops who got just one dose, seven succumbed to the infection. Most encouragingly, out of the 67,673 people who were fully vaccinated, there were only four deaths due to COVID.

“If we examine the findings, we see that one dose gave 82 per cent protection from death while two doses gave 95 per cent protection from Covid-19 death. This study was done on a high-risk population at a time when the pandemic was at its peak. And we all know that Delta was driving the peak of the second wave,” said Dr Paul, stressing on the point that vaccines are working against the highly transmissible Delta variant.

Delta variant, which was first reported in India in October last year, has spread to 111 countries.