Figures released by the World Health Organisation show that 860 Maltese people aged over 60 had their life saved by vaccination.

A new study by the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) published in Eurosurveillance estimates that 470,000 lives have been saved among those aged 60 years and over since the start of COVID-19 vaccination rollout in 33 countries across the WHO European Region.

Of these, 860 were Maltese, the study shows.

This estimate does not include lives saved by vaccinating people under 60, nor lives saved from the indirect effect of vaccination because of a reduction in transmission.

Since December 2019, over 1.5 million COVID-19 confirmed fatalities have been recorded in the countries of the WHO European Region, with 90.2% in those aged 60 years and over. The rapid development and administration of COVID-19 vaccines has provided much-needed protection from severe disease and death for millions of the most vulnerable, but the speed and extent of rollout of these vaccines across countries of the Region is inequitable.

See the study in full here