Only 0.05% fully vaccinated healthcare workers got severe Covid: Fortis

Study covered over 16,000 healthcare workers across Fortis hospitals in India

Only 0.05 per cent of vaccinated healthcare workers got severe Covid that required intensive care, showed a recent study released by Fortis Healthcare. This represents real-world data on the impact of the Covid-19 vaccination. Fortis, however, did not share the details of vaccine-wise response.

The study covered over 16,000 healthcare workers across Fortis hospitals in the country (barring their Dehradun facility), who were administered both first and second doses of the vaccine between January 2021 and May 2021. Fortis said that this period included the ‘peak’ of the second wave when India was recording 350,000-400,000 daily Covid-19 cases and the healthcare workers were in line of duty. The hospital group has also shared their findings with the Government of India.

Of the 16,147 healthcare workers who got both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, 968 people, or around 6 per cent, got down with the infection. Fortis said that of those who got Covid19, around 92 percent of them could largely recover under home-care and got mild disease. Around seven percent got moderate illness and required oxygen support. Only one per cent (or roughly nine people) got severe Covid-19 illness and required intensive care unit treatment or ventilation.

Therefore, out of the total 16,147 individuals who were fully vaccinated, only 0.05 per cent got severe disease.

A recent study by Public Health England (PHE), an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom, has shown that even one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech or AstraZeneca) reduces household transmission by up to 50 per cent.

Bishnu Panigrahi, Group Head–Medical Strategy & Operations Fortis Healthcare Ltd, said, “The study clearly brings out important findings that the vaccines available in India for COVID-19 do provide protection against the virus even in healthcare workers who are at most risk and vulnerable to get infected by the virus.”

He felt that we need to use our research and study findings in varied ways and smart data analytics to bust rumours, myths and hesitancy among the population on getting inoculated.

Vaccine efficacy is generally reported as relative risk reduction (RRR). Studies have already demonstrated that being vaccinated against Covid-19 significantly reduces risk of being infected.

For example, in clinical trials,a 95 percent vaccine efficacy would indicate vaccinated individuals will be 95 percent less likely to get Covid-19. “If one per cent of the unvaccinated population develops Covid-19, getting the vaccine would reduce chances of getting Covid-19 by 95 per cent, resulting in a 0.05 per cent infection rate,” Fortis said.