None of fully vaccinated people in 20s to 50s died due to COVID

The Yomiuri Shimbun

10:15 JST, October 30, 2021

OSAKA — The Osaka prefectural government has found that none of twice-vaccinated people in their 20s to 50s died after getting infected with the novel coronavirus, while the number of unvaccinated people who died rose to 62 in the same age group.

Those who were vaccinated with two doses of the vaccine have a lower risk of death or serious illness after infection than those who were not vaccinated, according to an analysis by the prefectural government.

Osaka surveyed the vaccination history of people infected with the novel coronavirus in the prefecture between June 1 and Oct. 17.

Of those aged 60 and over who had not been vaccinated, the results showed that the percentage of tho who died of the virus was 4.6% and the rate of those who developed serious illness due to the virus was 6.1%.

In contrast, among those in the same age bracket who had received the second dose of the vaccine at least 14 days before, the mortality rate was 1.6% and the rate to develop serious illness was 1.9%, or about one-third.

Among those in their 40s and 50s who had not been vaccinated, the mortality rate was 0.3% and the rate of serious illness was 2.2%, but none of fully vaccinated people died due to the disease, and the rate of those who became seriously ill stood at 0.1%

The rate of death and serious illness among those in their 20s and 30s who had not been vaccinated was 0.01% and 0.2%, respectively, while no deaths or no serious illnesses occurred among those in the same age bracket of people vaccinated twice.

According to the prefectural government, 67% of people aged 12 and over have had two doses of vaccination as of Oct. 24, excluding medical personnel.

While 88% of those aged 65 and over have been vaccinated twice, the vaccination rate drops for younger generations: 71% of those in their 50s; 60% in their 40s; 51% in their 30s, and 47% in their 20s.

The prefectural government is running a campaign until the end of November to give away lodging vouchers and gift certificates in a drawing for twice-vaccinated people, targeting those in their 20s and 30s — the age group where the vaccination rate is only around 50%.

After using a popular music band for the prefecture’s special Twitter account, the number of followers has increased from a few hundred to about 40,000 in one day, according to the prefectural government.

“We’d like to continue to make further efforts so that people will be interested in the disease as much as possible,” an official fo the prefectural government said.

According to Osaka’s survey on people infected with the virus showed that 17% of twice-vaccinated people were without symptoms, which is slightly higher than the 11% of those who had not been vaccinated.

If a person is infected but has no symptoms, there is a risk of spreading the infection to others without being aware of it.

“Even after receiving two doses of vaccination, it is important to continue to take basic measures such as wearing masks, washing hands, and ventilation,” the official said.