After 5 months, the protection of Covid vaccine it drops from 74% to 39% for all age groups. This was reported by the Higher Institute of Health (with data updated to December 7), specifying that with the third dose protection against the development of severe symptoms goes back to 93%. Instead, coverage of the vaccine in preventing hospitalizations (88,7%), admissions to intensive care units (93,5%) and deaths (89,2%) remains high. The ISS data refer to the efficacy in preventing both symptomatic and asymptomatic disease.
Furthermore, the report highlights that the risk of death for the unvaccinated it is 16,6 times higher than for those who have had the third dose of the vaccine. And that in the unvaccinated, the risk of death is 11,1 times higher than those vaccinated with two doses within 5 months and 6,9 times greater than those vaccinated with a complete cycle for over 5 months.
At European level, in the period 22 November to 5 December, the incidence of cases grows rapidly, while the mortality rate continues to increase but more slowly. Currently the highest incidence is observed in the population under 50, but it is growing very quickly even in the more advanced age groups. Although the countries in which the vaccination campaign is struggling to get going are those "most severely affected", concern is also growing in countries with higher vaccination coverage: the Omicron variant it is being detected in an increasing number of EU countries, “some of which now report community transmission. Sequencing remains targeted in most countries.”
As regards the epidemiological trend in Italy, the ISS points out that, in the same period, an increase in the weekly incidence was observed in all age groups, but from the second half of October especially in age range 0-19 years: there are 48.503 new cases of Covid, of which 167 hospitalized and two hospitalized in intensive care in seven days. In children aged 0 to 9 the incidence has reached in the last week "values above 250 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants", indicates the ISS, specifying that" the figure is "still to be consolidated".
Meanwhile, from Wednesday 16 December administrations start for children between 5 and 11 years old. The green light for the Pfizer vaccine arrived on 1 December from the Aifa Technical-Scientific Commission (CTS), which accepted the positive outcome expressed by the EMA, the European Medicines Agency.
According to data from the Ministry of Health, on December 11, they registered in Italy 21.042 positive cases, out of over 500 thousand molecular and antigenic swabs for the coronavirus. Peak since last April 3, when there were 21.261 cases. On the other hand, there are 96 victims and the positivity rate rises to 3,7%, (up from 2,86% the previous day). There are 818 patients in intensive care, while hospitalized patients with symptoms in ordinary wards rise to 6.539.
