Countries with high vaccine rates have lower mortality rates, EU data suggests
The latest data from the EU health agency suggest that the higher the country’s vaccination rate, the lower its death rate.
The European Commission published a table on Tuesday which showed that Malta continues to have one of the highest vaccine doses in the block, and has the lowest mortality rate.
According to the European Center for Disease Control, 92% of the adult population is fully vaccinated, while the country is the only one with a zero death rate per million population over the last 14 the day.
It is only surpassed by Ireland, which has a vaccination rate of 93%, the chart shows.
At the bottom of the scale, Bulgaria has been vaccinated with only 29% of its population, with the highest number of deaths compared to its population of 325 people per million.
The European Medicines Agency has previously warned its members to “close the gap” on vaccines to halt the rise in COVID-19 cases, with un-jabbed leading to an increase in hospitals.
On Thursday it will discuss an application by Pfizer-BioNTech to extend its vaccine against COVID-19 to children aged five to 11 years.
Commenting on vaccination rate data, the head of public health in Malta said that vaccines “have consistently proven to be a powerful tool”.
Charmaine Gauci said the country had followed an evidence-based approach in its actions during the pandemic.
“Booster doses have been rolled out through a strategy to protect those who benefit the most,” she said.
“The data persistently show that vaccines are highly protective against severe COVID-19-related diseases, hospitalization and death.”
Independent journalism costs money. Times of Malta Support for price of coffee.