You must have many previous illnesses and a particularly advanced age to die from Covid when vaccinated. This is the real risk profile that is obtained from an in-depth analysis contained in the periodic report on deaths of the Higher Institute of Health, based on the analysis of a sample of 671 medical records relating to deaths that occurred from 1 February to 5 October 2021.
Covid-19 deaths who have completed the vaccination cycle have a higher average age (85.5 versus 78.3) than unvaccinated, and the average number of diseases observed is also significantly higher in this group (5 , 0 versus 3.9 pre-existing pathologies).
The impact of heart disease, dementia and cancer
In the period considered, there were 38,096 SARS-COV-2 positive deaths. Among these are 33,620 those in those who had not yet received any vaccination dose and 1,440 SARS-COV-2 positive deaths in vaccinees with a complete vaccination course (3.7% of all SARS-COV-2 positive deaths occurred in the period ). The analysis of their characteristics indicates that the presence of heart disease (ischemic heart disease, atrial fibrillation and heart failure), dementia and cancer was higher in the vaccine sample.
Hypothesisable a reduced immune response
“The results presented here – explains Graziano Onder, director of the Department of Cardiovascular, Endocrine-Metabolic and Aging Diseases of the ISS – clearly indicate that people who died after completing the vaccination cycle have a high level of clinical complexity, significantly higher than people who have not been able to benefit from the effect of the vaccine due to an early infection or because they have not even started the vaccination course. It is possible to hypothesize that very elderly patients with numerous diseases may have a reduced immune response and therefore be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and its complications despite having been vaccinated. These very frail people with a reduced immune response are the ones who can benefit most from a broad vaccination coverage of the entire population as this further reduces the risk of infection. Reducing the circulation of the virus is the best way to protect them ».
Most affected men
The Report describes the characteristics of 130,468 deceased and positive SARS-CoV-2 patients in Italy from the start of surveillance to 5 October 2021 reported by the Integrated Covid-19 Surveillance coordinated by the ISS. The mean age of SARS-CoV-2 positive deceased patients is 80 years (median 82, range 0-109). 56,792 women died (43.5%). Only in the over 90 age group does the number of female deaths exceed those of male sex, a figure to be related to the fact that about 72% of the population in this group is made up of women. Overall, women who died after contracting SARS-CoV-2 infection are older than men (median age: women 85 – men 80). As of October 5, 2021, out of the 130,468 (1.2%) SARS-CoV-2 positive patients under the age of 50, 1,601 died. In particular, 399 of these were under the age of 40 (245 men and 154 women aged between 0 and 39).