COVID-19 vaccination effective at reducing hospitalization rates: Finnish study

HELSINKI, March 31 (Xinhua) - Finland's ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaign has significantly reduced the number of elderly and at-risk people requiring hospital treatment, a research conducted by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) showed.

The vaccination campaign has reduced the number of severe COVID-19 cases requiring hospital treatment by an average 74 percent in people aged over 70 and by 84 percent in risk groups, according to a press release issued by the THL on Wednesday.

This was the first preliminary research on the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines conducted in Finland, and the findings matched the results of similar studies conducted in other countries, commented Tuija Leino, chief physician at the THL.

"The effectiveness four weeks after receiving the first vaccine dose was 78 percent in Israel, 81 percent in Scotland and 71-80 percent in England. The results depend, among other things, on the vaccine product used and the age of the subjects," Leino said in the press release.

The THL evaluated all vaccine products used in the country. In Finland, mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccines have mostly been administered to the elderly, while the risk groups receive primarily adenovirus vector vaccines.

According to the health authority, the researchers collected data between Dec. 27, 2020, and March 28 this year from sample groups aged 70 and above and from at-risk patients in the 16 to 69 age group

The results reflect the efficacy of a single vaccine dose, as only 10 percent of participants who had received an mRNA vaccine were given a second dose during the study period. In the adenovirus vector vaccine group, no one had received a second dose.

Currently, 267 candidate vaccines are being developed globally -- 83 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain, and the United States, according to the World Health Organization.