Using a computer model, scientists from Microsoft Corporation showed that 100% vaccination against COVID-19 could prevent about half of deaths from coronavirus in the United States. Study results are now available on the preprint server Research Square and is considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
Real-life research has shown that COVID-19 vaccines are more than 80% effective in preventing serious illness and hospitalizations, and more than 90% effective in preventing deaths from COVID-19. Despite these benefits, a large proportion of US adults still have a distrust of vaccination.
Scientists have developed a model to estimate the number of vaccine-preventable deaths between January 2021 and April 2022.
The experiment showed that nearly 50% of deaths from COVID-19 at the country level could have been prevented if 100% of US adults were fully vaccinated during the study period.
With a vaccination rate of 85%, the model predicted that 28% of deaths could be prevented. At the same time, the result can differ significantly depending on the situation.
The simulation model was developed based on two assumptions. One assumption was that the number of COVID-19 infections would be constant. At the same time, the researchers did not take into account the effect of age and race on the effectiveness of the vaccine.