Covishield offers 93% protection against COVID-19, reduces mortality rate by 98%: Study

Covishield, which is the Indian version of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID vaccine, gives 93 percent protection against COVID-19 and reduces the mortality rate by 98 percent, the central government on Tuesday said, referring to a study done by the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) during the second wave.

Dr VK Paul of NITI Aayog presented the findings of the study in a press conference on Tuesday and said, “Protection to the extent of 93 percent was seen [in people who were administered the Covishield vaccine] and this was during the second wave which was driven by the Delta variant... also 98 percent mortality reduction was seen."

The study was conducted on 15 lakh doctors and frontline workers during the lethal second COVID wave that was driven by the Delta variant of coronavirus. 

VK Paul said that vaccination against COVID-19 reduced infection, however, it is not a total guarantee. 

“No vaccine guarantees that infection will not happen, but serious disease gets prevented and nearly eliminated. I urge you to please be vigilant, be careful, have faith in our vaccines and continue to be careful in the weeks and months ahead,” he added.

During the second COVID-19 wave, which was on peak during April-May, India was logging a staggering two lakh infections daily, with a single-day tally also reaching above 300,000. 

Currently, India has logged over 31.4 million COVID cases and over 4.2 million deaths from the coronavirus pandemic, which broke out in India in March last year.