How Many Lives Did Covid-19 Vaccines Save? New Global Study Reveals The Numbers
According to the research, 82% of the lives saved involved individuals who had received the vaccine before being infected by the coronavirus
A new international study has revealed that Covid-19 vaccines saved more than 25 lakh lives between 2020 and 2024, highlighting the profound global impact of mass immunisation efforts during the pandemic.
The study, published in the JAMA Health Forum, was jointly conducted by researchers from Universita Cattolica in Italy and Stanford University in the US. It estimates that around 25.33 lakh lives were spared due to vaccination, with one death averted for every 5,400 doses administered.
Covid-19 first emerged in Wuhan, China, in late 2019 and swept across the globe within months, triggering unprecedented health, economic, and social crises. In response, scientists raced to develop vaccines, and by the end of 2020, several versions were rolled out worldwide. Billions received two primary doses, with many also taking booster shots.
While questions were occasionally raised about the vaccine's long-term effects, particularly concerning heart-related issues, health experts repeatedly dismissed such claims, maintaining that the benefits far outweighed any rare side effects. The new study offers quantitative backing to those assertions.
Elderly Benefited Most
The researchers found the vaccine's impact was most significant among those aged 60 and above. In this age group, the vaccine prevented 90% of potential deaths. Of the estimated 1.48 crore life-years saved globally, 76% were among the elderly.
Moreover, 82% of the lives saved involved individuals who had received the vaccine before being infected by the virus. The protection was particularly evident during the Omicron wave, a highly infectious phase of the pandemic that alone accounted for 57% of the prevented deaths.
Limited Impact on Children and Youth
In contrast, the benefit of vaccination among children and young adults was marginal, largely due to their lower baseline risk of death from Covid-19. For individuals aged 0 to 19, the number of lives saved was just 0.01%, while life-years saved stood at 0.1%. For those aged 20 to 29, deaths prevented amounted to 0.07%, with 0.3% life-years gained.
Global Data, Comprehensive Scope
The study was led by Professor Stefania Boccia from Universita Cattolica, in collaboration with Dr Angelo Maria Pezzullo and Dr Antonio Christiano, both affiliated with Stanford University under a European research initiative.
Their analysis drew on global data concerning Covid-19 infections, mortality, and vaccine distribution. Using statistical modelling, the team estimated how many more people might have died in a scenario without vaccines.
What sets this study apart is its scale and scope. It is the first global research effort covering the full timeline of the pandemic – from the early days in 2020 through to 2024. It not only compares outcomes among vaccinated and unvaccinated populations but also measures the difference in impact across different virus variants, especially before and after Omicron emerged.
Beyond deaths prevented, the research also sheds light on the concept of 'life-years saved", a measure that considers not just whether a life was saved, but how many more years that person might live. This adds further depth to understanding the vaccine's role in mitigating the Covid-19 pandemic's toll.
view comments
First Published:
July 29, 2025, 15:03 IST
Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
4 hours ago
- Mint
US-return man almost dies after working at ‘toxic' Indian startup, suffers major heart attack: ‘It's not worth it'
A Reddit user shared his painful story of working in an Indian startup. The post, It's not worth it, has struck a chord with many. For 20 years, he worked with US and European companies and knew what a healthy work culture looked like. But after losing his job, he joined a startup in India, ignoring all red flags. Within weeks, he saw lies about revenue, rude founders, long working hours and toxic behaviour. He stayed on because the job market was tough, but the stress broke him. 'Classic toxic Indian workplace - gaslighting, nepotism, impossible clients, zero respect,' he wrote. 'Every day chipped away at my sanity, ethics, and self-respect. Depression crept in as the founders' failures made them increasingly abusive to employees,' he wrote. The user finally quit, even without another job. Soon after, he suffered a major heart attack and needed two emergency stents. Doctors said he was just 30 minutes from death. 'Now I'm home - jobless, damaged heart, uncertain future. Was that monthly salary worth permanently destroying my health? Hell no. My brain keeps saying, 'What choice did I have?' But, there's always a choice. We just refuse to see it until we're lying in a hospital bed,' the user commented. 'To everyone grinding through toxic workplaces 'for financial security' - your life is worth more than any paycheck. Your family needs you alive, not rich and dead,' he added. Social media users posted empathetic replies. At the same time, they understood what he was going through. 'How many more heart attacks would stop this exploitation! Hope you get the strength to overcome this situation,' wrote one user. 'I can understand ...I am in the same boat but not me, my husband got 2 heart attacks..3 the age of 31. He was made to sit at home, I left my job for caregiving its not just in IT but every field. Hes in the hotel industry. Joined back still a stressful job and every visit to the doctor is still a nightmare with new issues,' came from another. Another wrote, 'Cause of our population, our mental health and human value is very very less and government doesnt care cause there is always replacement for us.' 'It's a great lesson to get away from egotistical founders who think they are the gangsters of the business world. I worked at one such firm, and my health went downhill,' came from another.
Indian Express
5 hours ago
- Indian Express
Why airplanes use nautical miles instead of kilometers to measure distance
We travel by road, water, or air. On roads, the odometer shows meters, and the speedometer displays kilometers per hour (km/h). But measuring distance in air or water isn't as straightforward. This is where nautical miles, a unit of length specially designed for navigation in air, sea, and space, comes in. 'The nautical mile is based on geography, history, and practicality. It equals 1.852 km (1.851853 km by international standard) and was defined in 1929 by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO). While both units relate to Earth's size, the meter (1/10,000,000 of the Earth's meridian) suits land measurements better and lacks a clear link to latitude and longitude. The nautical mile isn't part of the International System of Units (SI),' explained Dr Harshada Babrekar, Ph.D. Physics, consultant for Academic Development, Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited (MKCL). Prof. Jayant Pande, Faculty of Physics, FLAME University, said historically, sailors used nautical miles for centuries to navigate over large distances in the sea. 'Particularly when global navigation started to be carried out widely by European explorers in the 16th century, it was a matter of great convenience for them to know that the distance traveled by ship over a sea along a longitudinal meridian held a direct relationship to the degrees of latitude that had been crossed by the ship,' said Prof. Pande. Since the latitudes are equally spaced along the Earth's surface, such that there are 180 degrees of latitude in total from the North Pole to the South Pole, the calculation meant that one nautical mile equalled 1/(180*60)th of the distance along a meridian from the North to the South Pole. 'Again, this assumes the Earth to be a sphere, which is a close approximation to its actual shape of an oblate spheroid. This definition of a nautical mile, based on the distance between two degrees of latitude, makes it a handy unit for navigation, both for sailors and pilots, and helps them to pinpoint the latitude of a point easily and precisely,' said Prof. Pande. Take, for instance, Dr Harshada explained that if a plane is passing from Point A with Latitude 35° N, Longitude 118° W, and Point B: Latitude 38° N, Longitude 120° W (not taking into account longitude difference just for simplicity): Latitude Difference: 38° – 35° = 3° Convert to Minutes: 3° * 60 minutes/degree = 180 minutes Nautical Miles: 180 minutes * 1 nautical mile/minute = 180 nautical miles (approximately) Kilometers: 1 nautical mile = 1.852 kilometers = 180 * 1.852 = 333 km The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and International Maritime Organization (IMO) mandate the use of nautical miles as a global standard for ships and aircraft to reduce confusion. 'Each nautical mile equals one minute of latitude, allowing pilots to map routes precisely and navigate with ease. This standardisation helps maintain course using maps, ensures safer flights, and supports accurate GPS-based navigation,' said Dr Harshada. Prof. Pande said that a nautical mile is more suited to navigation over a body of water, whose surface can be constantly changing, than ground-based units such as kilometers and miles. 'With that said, due to reasons of standardisation, in modern times, an international nautical mile has been globally defined to have a length of exactly 1852 meters, which means that one can, if needed, convert from the nautical mile to an SI unit such as a kilometer,' said Prof. Pande. Using nautical miles also streamlines flight planning and promotes international coordination in aviation. 'If global adoption of the metric system grows like the gradual shift in the United States, kilometers may become common in everyday use. But in professional navigation and aviation, nautical miles will continue to dominate,' said Dr Harshada. DISCLAIMER: This article is based on information from the public domain and/or the experts we spoke to.
NDTV
5 hours ago
- NDTV
"Ignored Every Red Flag": Ex-Startup Employee Blames Toxic Work Culture After Suffering Heart Attack
In recent months, Reddit has become a popular platform for employees to share their job struggles and workplace concerns. Several subreddits have emerged where employees anonymously share their stories and also connect with others who face similar challenges. Now, a former startup employee claimed that he suffered a massive heart attack because of the toxic work culture in his office. In the post, titled "It's not worth it," the anonymous user wrote that despite noticing red flags in the job, he continued to work for "megalomaniac founders" due to the brutal job market. "Here's my story - two decades working with US/European companies taught me what healthy work culture looks like. Last year I ignored every red flag and joined an Indian startup as I had no other options after being laid off. The signs were there from week two- fudged revenue numbers, megalomaniac founders, "always-on" expectations from 11:30am to 2am daily. Classic toxic Indian workplace - gaslighting, nepotism, impossible clients, zero respect," the user wrote. It's not worth it by u/YakStraight1780 in IndianWorkplace The original poster (OP) further claimed that the daily pressure of work and the disrespect in the workplace "chipped away" at their "sanity, ethics and self-respect". "Depression crept in as the founders' failures made them increasingly abusive to employees," the Redditor wrote. "Finally had to resign just to escape the black hole, even without another job lined up," he continued, adding, "Within a few weeks: massive heart attack. Two emergency stents. Doctors said 30 minutes more would've been fatal." "Now I'm home - jobless, damaged heart, uncertain future. Was that monthly salary worth permanently destroying my health? Hell no. My brain keeps saying 'what choice did I have?' But there's always a choice. We just refuse to see it until we're lying in a hospital bed,' the user wrote. The worker concluded the post by urging others not to suffer at a toxic workplace "for financial security". "Your life is worth more than any paycheck. Your family needs you alive, not rich and dead. We all learn this lesson eventually. I learned it the hard way so you don't have to." In the comments section of the post, users shared similar stories. "I can understand ...I am in the same boat but not me, my husband got 2 heart attacks..3 the age of 31. He was made to sit at home, I left my job for caregiving its not just in IT but every field. Hes in the hotel industry. Joined back still a stressful job and every visit to the doctor is still a nightmare with new issues," one user shared. "Sorry to hear that and I pray for your speedy recovery. You are absolutely right about our toxic work culture and impact on health. May be a less paying job with less pressure," said another. "Get well soon. You certainly did not deserve the disrespect and mental torture. But it's a great lesson to get away from egotistical founders who think they are the gangsters of the business world. I worked at one such firm, and my health went downhill," commented a third person.
