The risk of death from Covid was 18 times higher among unvaccinated elderly people, compared to those already immunized, during the wave caused by the ômicron variant in Brazil.
Folha analyzed official data from the Ministry of Health with population estimates from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. The records of deaths and hospitalizations from December to February were considered.
At the peak of the wave, in January, the moving average reached 151 daily deaths per million inhabitants among Brazilians aged 60 and over without any dose received.
Among the elderly protected with at least the first complete regimen (two doses or the single-application vaccine), the proportional incidence of lethal cases at that time was one tenth of that recorded among non-immunized individuals, with 15 per day.
At the beginning of the increase in the case curve, in December, this difference was 18 times greater.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon