Study Estimates COVID-19 Vaccinations Prevented More Than 2.5 Million Deaths in 2020 to 2024
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Aug. 4, 2025 -- COVID-19 vaccination during 2020 to 2024 was beneficial, but estimates are more conservative than previous calculations that focused on the first year of vaccinations, according to a study published online July 25 in JAMA Health Forum.
John P.A. Ioannidis, M.D., D.Sc., from the Stanford University School of Medicine in California, and colleagues calculated lives and life-years saved by COVID-19 vaccination worldwide from the onset of vaccination campaigns through Oct. 1, 2024, in a comparative effectiveness study.
The researchers found that more than 2.5 million deaths were averted in the main analysis (one death averted per 5,400 vaccine doses administered); 82 percent were among people vaccinated before any infection. A suggested 1.4 to 4.0 million lives were saved in sensitivity analyses. A preponderance of benefit was seen during the pre-omicron period in some sensitivity analyses. An estimated 14.8 million life-years were saved, with one life-year saved per 900 vaccine doses; the sensitivity range was 7.4 to 23.6 million life-years. Overall, 76 percent of life-years saved were among people aged 60 years or older; only 2 percent of the total was contributed by long-term care residents. Very small contributions to the total benefit were seen for children and adolescents and young adults aged 20 to 29 years (0.01 and 0.07 percent of lives saved, respectively; 0.1 and 0.3 percent of life-years saved, respectively).
"These estimates are substantially more conservative than previous calculations that focused mainly on the first year of vaccination, but clearly demonstrate an important overall benefit from COVID-19 vaccination over the period 2020-2024," coauthor Stefania Boccia, D.Sc., Ph.D., from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome, said in a statement.
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Posted August 2025
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